Sweet Tyranny
by zeppx
Summary: Instead of a summary you get the prompt that sprung this fic. "Give me a Dean/Cas AU. I want a firefighter Dean, teacher Cas…throw in some Gabriel, Jimmy, Anna, Sam/Jess and an adorable, vomit inducing child of theirs. Shake well and serve."
1. Chapter 1

So, I was moaning to **elemenoze** about how I've only written things for _Million Little Things_ and my _'verse_, so he whacked me upside the head told me to quit my bitching and gave me a prompt for an AU. I love me some AU's, and I got some immediate ideas with what he gave me, but I'm still a bit nervous about this since I don't know how well I write AU's. But yeah, it's a little break from what I'm always writing.

_Prompt_: "Give me a Dean/Cas AU. I want a firefighter Dean, teacher Cas…throw in some Gabriel, Jimmy, Anna, Sam/Jess and an adorable, vomit inducing child of theirs. Give me an unremarkable first meeting and awkward shenanigans the second time around. Shake well and serve."

Title is from the proverb: "Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly."

So…yeah. I hope you guys like it, depending on how well this goes over I'll update soon.

**Edit**: I've gone through and have had this beta'd (finally!) so...yay. Better grammar never hurt anyone!

* * *

Dean was too busy trying to remember what the hell went into Bobby's chili instead of paying attention to where he was going. So when he slammed into someone else's cart like some sick reenactment of a car crash, he wasn't too surprised. Didn't mean he was pleased, but it was to be expected in the middle of the rush of people doing their grocery shopping after a day at work.

Dean glanced up, frowning and not all together happy with having to apologize to whoever it was he'd slammed into. He was in a rush, already running late for work when he'd been ordered to pick up the food for the weekend shift.

If this had been some sort of movie, one of those damn romantic comedies that Jess was always making Dean and Sam watch with her, there would have been sappy music playing in the background and the lead actor's eyes would have widened and had some sort of snappy comeback die on his lips when he caught sight of the person he'd rammed. Since Dean's life nowhere near resembled a movie, he simply eyed the guy in front of him, who was frowning down at his phone, before turning that frown to Dean.

"Uh… sorry." Dean managed to get out, annoyed with the frown; it wasn't entirely his fault was it? Since the dude wasn't paying attention either. The other man blinked his too big, too blue eyes at Dean, ran a hand through his dark, messy hair and said, "Apologies, I wasn't paying attention."

"No harm, no foul, right?" Another frown again, this time accompanied by a slight tilt of the head to the left, fine brows furrowing together. Any other time Dean would have been focusing on how insanely attractive the other man was, would be focusing on actually smiling and making jokes, maybe even eventually landing a phone number. Not this time though, Dean was busy, rushing around trying to buy food and get to the station on time. Dean finally realized he was just being stared at, the other man's head tilted like some curious Labrador trying to figure something out.

"Right, I'll uh… be moving on then." Dean muttered, pulling his cart back and heading down the aisle.

By the time Dean was standing in line to check out, his phone buzzing with texts from Bobby, Jo, and Victor, asking where he was with their food, he'd forgotten all about his strange encounter.

* * *

"Seriously bro, when are you going to stop teaching snot nosed little kids and come work for me?" Castiel frowned into the paper cup full of hot chocolate that had been handed to him by his brother, "I have no interest in coming to work for you, Gabriel."

"Oh come on! Jimmy did."

"Jimmy had no other choice; you were going to go bankrupt." Gabriel scoffed from his position behind the counter, "I would have hired someone… eventually." Castiel shot his elder brother an unbelieving look. Gabriel sighed, "Okay, maybe I wouldn't have, but this is a family run store, Cas! Not like I forced Jimmy out of his boring office job or anything."

"You nearly got him fired by sending pictures of me with another man to his boss." Gabriel snickered, handed Castiel a chocolate from the case he was standing in front of. "I can't help that my family was blessed with twins. Makes it so much easier to work some things around." Castiel rolled his eyes and popped the chocolate into his mouth, he would probably hate Gabriel if his brother didn't make such wondrous chocolate.

"Speak of the devil!" Gabriel shouted when Jimmy entered the store. Castiel moaned around his chocolate and muttered out, "Gabriel this is amazing." Gabriel beamed at him, "You like? It's a new recipe."

"I think I would fall in love with you for your chocolate making skills and be your kept man if we weren't related." Jimmy rolled his eyes, tossed his bag into the office at the back of the shop, turned to Castiel and paused.

"You met someone!"

Castiel returned his attention to his cup of hot chocolate and murmured, "I didn't." Gabriel hopped up to sit on the counter, Jimmy leaned against it, eyes wide, and sparkling with mischief, "You did. You can't lie to me Cassie, we're twins."

"Well c'mon bro, what's his name? What's he do and is he hot?" Castiel sighed and shrugged, keeping his attention on his paper cup. Jimmy reached over and poked Castiel's shoulder, "Come on Cassie, you haven't been with anyone for… a long time. This is good!"

"That's not true! There have been… other… men…" Gabriel and Jimmy's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into their hair, so Castiel cleared his throat and muttered, "I didn't 'meet' anyone, he crashed his shopping cart into mine in the grocery store, we exchanged apologies and went our own ways."

"You're still thinking about him, though." Curse being a twin.

"I'm still stuck on the whole 'there have been other men' thing. Cas, you been having some seedy one night stands?"

"No! I don't… no!" Gabriel chuckled and moved away to check on his chocolates, Jimmy continued to stare at Castiel; Castiel knew his brother was trying to get a read on him. Castiel kept his attention down on his now empty cup, thinking of golden skin, light brown hair and green eyes.

"You should have at least got his name and phone number. Grocery store hook ups are the best." Castiel sighed, tossed his cup at Jimmy's head. "How would you know? You married your college sweetheart right out of college."

"Well, Amelia and I sometimes role-" Castiel snatched his bag from the ground and made a run for the door, "I'm going home! I have papers to grade!" Jimmy's laughter followed him out the door and to his car. Why he thought visiting his brothers after dealing with hyperactive eight- and nine-year-olds was a good idea was beyond him.

* * *

Dean was enjoying his day off; Sam was at work, Jess was at work, and his nephew Riley was at school. He had the house to himself and not a damn thing planned to do that day, so he was sprawled on the couch in nothing but his sleep pants, lightly dozing in the sun.

His phone ringing, 'Sam' flashing across the screen, interrupted his doze.

"This better be good, Sammy. Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie were just about to give me a backrub. Naked." Sam sighed on the other end of the phone, "I need you to go pick up Riley from school. His teacher called me and said he puked."

"Why don't you or Jess go get him?" Dean loved his nephew - adored him, but Dean wasn't feeling up to actually getting dressed and dealing with a sick child.

"Because I'm in the middle of court, Dean, and Jess is stuck in a meeting." Dean sighed and grumbled out that he would do it.

Fifteen minutes later, Dean was standing in the doorway to Riley's classroom. Most of the kids were sitting at their desks pretending to be working when really they were watching the small group of people up at the front of the room. The room was medium sized and cozy. Maps and pictures and everything else a third grade classroom would need were on the walls, a few rugs were on the floor, and bookcases in the corner surrounded a large light green couch. It was the kind of room that Dean would have loved to have as his own third grade classroom. From the looks of it, everything had been paused in the middle of their math lesson; basic multiplication problems written up on the whiteboard.

"Mr. Novak, there's a strange man standing in the door!" Dean snapped out of his examination and found himself the center of attention. When Dean laid eyes on 'Mr. Novak', he fought the urge to point and stare. It was the same person he'd crashed to in the grocery store on Friday. Bright blue eyes widened a little and Dean had the feeling Mr. Novak was having the same urge.

"Thank you, Justin. Everyone return to your work, please. When I come around in five minutes, I want to see some progress." The kids hastened to return to their work, tongues poking out, brows furrowed, and furious whispers to try to figure things out. And that voice, how had Dean not realized that voice on Friday? Deep and gravely, it did things to Dean that he would never admit to.

Mr. Novak stepped away from where he'd been standing, supervising the vomit clean up from the looks of it, and held a hand out for Dean to shake. "I'm Castiel Novak, Riley's teacher. You must be his father?" Dean blinked, shook himself out of it, and took the offered hand in his own, Castiel's fingers were long and elegant, palm smooth and warm against Dean's own calloused one.

"Uh… no. I'm his uncle, actually. Dean."

"Oh? Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Dean. Riley, your uncle is here to take you home." Dean spotted Riley's blonde head pop up from his desk in the middle of the room. He grinned at Dean and came hopping towards them. When he came to a stop in front of Dean, he pointed to the rug that he'd apparently puked on, at closer look Dean noticed it was a map of the world, "Look, Uncle Dean! I managed to puke on North and South America!"

A strangled sound came from Castiel before he clapped a hand over his mouth and turned to the side a little, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"That's awesome, man."

"I told them I didn't need to go home; I'm not feeling sick anymore, I just had too much candy." Dean raised an eyebrow at Castiel who had returned to the conversation with his composure back, the other man shrugged. "We take the kids around to other classrooms to trick or treat before Halloween. Riley must have been sneaking some out of his bag." Riley shot his teacher a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry for puking on your new rug, Mr. Novak."

"I forgive you. Just go home and try not to eat any more candy." Riley nodded and headed off to gather his things.

"So… I remember you. From Friday. You smashed your cart into mine." Well, that was lame Winchester.

"I remember you as well. And if I recall you smashed your cart into mine." Dean waved his hand, dismissing his statement and said, "If I'd known you were my nephew's teacher, I would have been friendlier." Castiel simply shrugged and they stood in awkward silence while they waited for Riley to return.

Riley returned and Dean said an awkward, "Well uh… see you later, Cas." Castiel simply nodded, turned and shouted, "Nathan, if I see you put one more piece of paper in Emily's hair, you will get to stay in here and work on your cursive during recess!" Nathan immediately went back to work while Emily let out a screech and started combing fingers through her hair.

As they walked out of the classroom, Riley sighed and said, "Nathan is always teasing Emily. He makes her cry sometimes."

"That just means he likes her."

"Why would you do that to someone you like?" Dean glanced down at Riley who was looking up at him with Sam's puppy eyes, Jess' blonde curls falling over his face. Dean shrugged and said, "Ask your dad when he gets home later."

"I should have asked Mr. Novak. He knows everything." They climbed into the Impala when they reached it and Dean asked, "You really like him, huh?" Riley nodded with his usual enthusiasm and said, "He's awesome. We all get to take turns sitting on the couch with him during reading time, and he tells really good stories." Dean smiled over at his nephew and turned up the music, smile broadening into a grin as Riley broke out into pulling some sweet air guitar moves.

Now all Dean had to do was think of reasons to pop in on his nephew's teacher more often.

* * *

Castiel had never been happier for a day to end. He adored teaching and he loved his students, but this year's bunch was going to be the end of him. It was all Dean Winchester's fault, too. Castiel sighed into the papers he'd face planted into; Dean with his eyes and his mouth and skin, his perfect ass and broad shoulders and-

"Hey Cas." Castiel shot upright with a squeak, glared at Sarah who had quietly entered his classroom and positioned herself in a chair in front of his desk.

Dean Winchester was going to be the end of him.

"Hello Sarah." Sarah had been teaching the second grade when Castiel had started working here several years ago. She now taught the other third grade class across the hall. They'd become fast friends when she'd shown him around town and introduced him to fellow teachers.

"You're looking a little worse for wear there, buddy."

"Third graders and sugar are a dangerous mixture." Sarah nodded her agreement, smiled and asked, "So who was the hunk who stopped by earlier today?" Castiel felt the blush creep up his neck and to his cheeks. He knew Sarah saw it by the way her smile widened. Damn him and his fair skin. Castiel hid his head in his arms when Sarah laughed and clapped, "Oh my God, Cas, you have a crush!"

"Please, not you too! I get enough grief from my brothers."

"This is too good to pass up, Cas. That man is a hunk. You need to ask him out." Castiel just wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole in that moment.

"He's a relative of a student. I shouldn't."

"Oh please, there's no rule that says you can't. Not like he's a parent or anything." Castiel only groaned into his arms, "Oh c'mon, Cas. Man is hot, and he was totally eyefucking you." Castiel raised his head finally and raised an eyebrow, "Eye what?"

"He totally wanted to throw you against the wall and have his way with you, little children watching be damned." Another blush worked its way up his cheeks, "And you totally would have let him! Cas, you kinky bastard." Castiel buried his head in his arms again, "Please go away."

Sarah reached over the desk and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll get you laid. It's been too long for you."

"Why does everyone think I haven't had sex in such a long time?"

"Well, when was the last time you did the dirty then?" Castiel hesitated, he didn't really talk about his sex life with people. The only person he did share with was his younger sister Anna, and only because he didn't have to see her every day. Sarah was a good friend though, and he usually told her everything.

"Last month. Don't ask for details, though. I don't remember. Gabriel, Jimmy and I went out for drinks and I got amazingly drunk, woke up in bed naked with a stranger the next morning."

"Never figured you for a one night stand man, Cas."

"I'm not. Wasn't a moment I'm proud of, Sarah." Sarah chuckled, rubbed her hand through Castiel's hair and said, "Well, we'll try and make it into a relationship, then, since I know it's been at least four years since you've had one of those." Castiel lifted his head and scowled at her; his last relationship having been the reason for his move here. No matter how long ago it was, it was still a touchy subject.

"Don't bother yourself Sarah; knowing my luck, Dean isn't even gay."

"Gay or not, he still wants to do you. We're gonna make it happen, don't worry." With that, she stood and left the classroom, leaving Castiel to grade his papers and plan for the rest of the week.

"How is this my life?"

The empty classroom had no answer.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, since you guys are so awesome and gave me all sorts of encouragement, here's the next part! And so you know, at some point the rating will go up…way up. I plan to plonk some porn in here. And I'm _telling _ you guys this useless fact because otherwise I'll chicken out and won't do it. And I want to, I really do. But yeah, I hope you guys like it!

I also hijacked some lines from **Susangel **from the awesomesauce conversation we had while I was writing this. I hope she doesn't mind She's also awesome, she's pretty much my muse, so you guys should give her lots of chocolate and peppermint tea!

And also **Scoobert0 **who has made me some awesome fanart for this fic: scoobert0. deviantart. com/ gallery/ 29011305?offset=24#/ d3aznz5. She is also awesome!

*flails* I love you guys so much sometimes it's embarrassing.

Carrying on

* * *

Castiel was standing in the cramped laundry room of his apartment, wondering if the worn t-shirt in his hands would survive another wash without disintegrating or if he should simply throw it away, when he heard his front door slam open and closed and Jimmy's voice shouting, "Cassie!"

Castiel sighed, tossed the shirt into the wash with everything else; it was his favorite and it brought out his eyes, and stepped out into the kitchen, glaring at Jimmy.

"I am not a _girl,_ Jimmy."

"It's a term of endearment, dumbass."

"We're not five anymore. Call me Cas or Castiel, otherwise I'll shove a spoon into your eye socket." Jimmy chuckled and they glared at each other over the island, "Whatever you say… Cassie." Castiel glared at him then turned and stomped out of the kitchen to finish sorting his laundry.

"We need to work on your threats if you're not going to follow through!"

"I'm going to do it while you sleep." Jimmy chuckled again and followed Castiel down the short hallway to his bedroom. Jimmy flopped into the middle of Castiel's bed and Castiel went about sorting his laundry, wanting nothing more than to collapse beside his brother after his long day, instead, he asked, "Why aren't you home with Claire and Amelia?"

"Girls night out. Claire wanted to go see the newest pre-teen swoon fest of a movie and I refused to be subjected to more sparkling vampires." Castiel snorted, he'd heard about the latest movie amongst his own students and from Claire whenever she came by to see him at school. He finished his sorting, collapsed face first on the bed next to his twin. Jimmy groaned, and rolled over, draping himself across Castiel's back.

They'd always been close growing up, near inseparable, wherever one of them was, the other wasn't far. They'd enjoyed screwing around with friends and teachers, not letting on who was who, switching spots and classes. It had been the highlight of Castiel's school years, having his best friend also be his brother, someone who understood him inside and out. Someone who'd known him at his best and worst and still loved him anyway.

Jimmy pressed his face into Castiel's shoulder and murmured, "I miss this." Castiel frowned into his pillow, "We see each other every day, Jimmy."

"Not like this, we don't." Castiel grunted his agreement; if they did tend to get touchy-feely around Gabriel, they were teased mercilessly, while Anna usually threw herself into the mix for her own hugs. A few people around town had even gone so far as to accuse them of having an 'incestuous relationship', which was just odd to Castiel. They were brothers, nothing more, sure the connection they shared was probably deeper than most, but he'd never think of his brother in _that_ way.

They laid like that for a while, Castiel soaking in Jimmy's body heat and Jimmy doing whatever it was that Jimmy did. When Jimmy finally moved it was to dig his chin in between Castiel's shoulders, causing Castiel to whine and squirm, "_Jimmy_."

"So when are you going to tell me about this guy you're gaga over."

"I'm not 'gaga' over anyone." Jimmy dug his chin in between Castiel's shoulders again, another whine came from Castiel. He _hated _that feeling.

"Like I said Cassie, you can't fool me; I know when you're mooning over someone." Castiel grunted and rolled over until Jimmy slid off his back; they situated themselves on their sides, facing each other, knees and feet touching.

"He's… an uncle of one of my students." Jimmy nodded and remained silent, letting Castiel continue at his own pace.

"I only know his name and that he's a firefighter. I don't know why, but I can't get him out of my head. It's annoying." Jimmy chuckled, threw an arm around Castiel's waist and pressed their foreheads together, "You were always a good judge of character, so there's probably something your subconscious is trying to point out to you. You'll figure it out. You always do, Cassie."

Castiel would never admit it, but the childhood nickname did make him feel better in ways. Reminded him of simpler times where happiness was easily found in a water sprinkler on a hot summer's day or in bubbles and crayons.

"But if he hurts you in any way, I'll rip his dick off and shove it down his throat." Castiel chuckled and pressed a kiss to his brother's forehead, "Oh how I love you, Jimmy."

* * *

Dean spent the rest of his week trying to get as much information about Cas as he could, which, as it turned out, wasn't much. Sam only knew him from the occasional phone call about Riley. Jess had seen him around sometimes at his brother's chocolate shop and at teacher things. Riley of course knew his teacher, but he didn't have the information Dean wanted.

Short of stalking, Dean had no way to know what to do to get to know his nephew's teacher. All he knew about the man was his name, profession, and that he preferred dark chocolate above all else. The chocolate information courtesy of Riley who had no problems being a little creeper and asking his teacher all kinds of inappropriate questions. There was only so much he could do with that information without being a creeper himself.

"You know, Novak's is having a big sale today," Sam said, discreetly watching his brother over his newspaper while they were eating breakfast.

"And?"

"And, I hear that Cas usually goes and helps his brother out when there's a big sale. You could go today and buy me some chocolate and chat up your man crush." Jess said, responding to Dean's glare with a grin.

"Didn't they just have a sale?" Dean ignored the fact that Jess' idea was actually pretty good. He'd never admit it though.

"For the Halloween candy, yeah. This is for the Thanksgiving candy."

"He has candy for different holidays?" Jess rolled her eyes, nodded and said, "My favorite is the Christmas stuff he makes. His peppermint bark drives me to near orgasm."

"Dude, reign in your wife!" Sam shot Dean a look, eyed Jess, "Yeah, there's no way I can do that. Have you met her?" Jess giggled and the two shared a kiss that had Dean making gagging noises and leaving the table with a, "Fine! But I'm taking Riley with me!"

Later in the afternoon, Dean was standing in Novak's Chocolate Shoppe with every pair of eyes in the place looking at him and Riley, who, upon entrance, screamed, "Hi Mr. Novak!" Dean was slightly mortified. He didn't like being the center of attention; preferred to be able to observe and seek out who he wished to speak to.

Cas, though, had taken it in stride. He'd grinned at Riley, waved, and shouted back, "Hi Riley!"

The dude was awesome.

Cas finished ringing up the customer he'd been dealing with when they'd entered, and approached the two Winchesters with a smile. He looked like they'd just made his day by simply coming in to buy some chocolate.

Dean cleared his throat when that intense blue gaze zeroed in on him, "Um. Hi again."

"Hello Dean." God his voice did all sorts of things to Dean.

"We, uh… came to buy chocolate." And God, how much more lame could he get? A small smile tugged at the corner of Cas' mouth. He took Riley's hand and headed back for the front of the store where the cases of chocolate stood. "Well you certainly came to the right place, then," he casually tossed over his shoulder at Dean.

Dean frowned down at his now empty hand; his little snot of a nephew had totally just abandoned him to go off with his _teacher_. Who chooses a teacher over the cool uncle? Cas would now be forever known as the nephew hijacker. Dean watched as the two made their way across the store, Riley hanging onto Cas' hand and jabbering on about what kinds of chocolate Jess liked. Cas listened to everything he said; giving Riley his full attention, which most adults never did when talking with kids. Dean could see why Riley liked him so much. Hell, it made Dean like him more.

When Dean finally joined them, Cas had moved behind the counter while Riley was pressed up against the glass of the case, peering in at all the different types of chocolate on display.

"Is there anything you'd like to try, Dean?" Dean eyed the chocolates; it wasn't really his thing, he tended to lean more towards M&M's and Gummy Bears.

"Uh, I don't know. What do you like?" Cas hummed and disappeared down behind the case. Dean could see him moving through the glass, but the chocolates and little signs mostly hid him. When he popped back up, he had two chocolates in his hand; Riley took one and Dean the other. It was obviously dark chocolate, which Dean had never had before, but he was willing to try something new.

Riley shoved it into his mouth whole, chewed enthusiastically, and exclaimed his delight for it while Dean simply bit it in half to test it. The dark chocolate was bittersweet with a subtle flavor of something Dean couldn't identify. Next followed the tang of the raspberry filling.

It was delicious.

Dean spent the next hour sampling different kinds of chocolates, drinking the free coffee that was given to him in small paper cups, and listening to the stories on how some of the chocolate's had gotten their names. Riley had long since been whisked into the back by Gabriel to be shown how to make the actual chocolate, leaving just Dean and Cas to talk. Even if it _was_an obvious set up with the exaggerated wink Gabriel had shot Cas, Dean kind of loved Gabriel in that moment for giving him alone time with Cas.

Dean learned that Cas had moved to California from New York four years ago, he preferred teaching third-grade above all others because "the students are independent enough but they still love their teacher", he had three older brothers and a younger sister, had a goldfish named Jaws, he liked to draw and cook in his free time, and he preferred tea over coffee.

Dean in turn told Cas about his own family; how his mother had died when he was younger and how his father had died a few years ago, how proud he was of Sam and his full ride to Stanford and his employment at the biggest law firm in their town, how he loved his own job because he liked helping people, even if the pay was shit, how he'd restored the Impala himself, how he loved Riley, and how he wasn't a fan of cats.

Everything was going amazingly well. Dean was busy trying to think of how to work a date into the conversation when Cas somehow managed to spill coffee all over Dean's crotch. Thankfully, it wasn't very hot, but it still looked like he'd just had an 'accident' in the middle of the shop.

"Shit! I'm sorry!" Cas was grabbing napkins and coming around the counter before Dean had even registered what was going on. Castiel knelt down and immediately went to town with his napkins and wiping at the coffee stain spread over Dean's crotch, and this was, of course, when Little Dean decided it was time to wake up and say 'hi'.

"Cas! It's okay man, I got it." Cas froze and seemed to take in the situation finally. He was on his knees in his brother's chocolate shop in front of Dean; one hand gripping Dean's hip to keep him steady while the other did absolutely obscene things. Dean could see the blush creep up Cas' cheeks as the other man shot to feet, shoved napkins into Dean's chest, "Bathroom is over there. There, it's there," he pointed in the vague direction of the restroom and disappeared into the back of the shop with a mortified whimper.

* * *

Castiel believes he blacked out when he left the front of the store to disappear into Jimmy's office. When Castiel finally started paying attention again, he found himself on the floor by Jimmy's chair, his head resting on Jimmy's thigh muttering, "It was… was… what's worse than _mortifying_?"

"Humiliating?" Castiel whimpered and hid against Jimmy's thigh when he heard Anna and Gabriel join them. Jimmy chuckled and ran his fingers through Castiel's hair while he continued with his paperwork, "I'm sure you're just exaggerating, Cas."

"Oh no, little bro here pretty much gave Dean an impromptu hand job." Gabriel sat himself against the wall, poking at Castiel with his foot while Anna sat behind Castiel and rested a hand on his back and said, "Don't worry sweetie, he knows you put out now, so he'll be back for more."

"I'm never dating again. _Ever_."

"Oh c'mon, Cas."

"I'm going to lock myself away in my apartment and become a creepy old man who collects ferns. Yes, that's what I'll do… I'll go buy one right now." Castiel began to stand but was pulled back down by Gabriel who said, "Oh quit it, you drama queen."

Castiel huffed and glared, but went back to leaning against Jimmy who continued with his soothing strokes. Gabriel stared at Castiel for a moment then said, "It wasn't that bad, Cas. You were only trying to help him out, after all, and he did enjoy it for a few moments before his big brain caught up with his little brain."

"But-"

"I'm not finished," Castiel shut his mouth and watched as Gabriel flipped into his 'big brother mode', "If he quits pursuing you just because of this one little incident, then he's an idiot and he wouldn't deserve you anyway."

"Gabriel's right, Cassie. you deserve the best." Anna placed a gentle kiss on Castiel's cheek, ruffled his hair, and stood to head back to the front of the store. Gabriel stood and pulled Castiel up to his feet and pushed him towards the door, "I bet you fifty bucks next time he sees you, he asks you out on a date."

"That, or he hands me a restraining order and takes his nephew out of my class." Gabriel chuckled, patted Castiel on the back and said, "Go home, Cas. I left you some chocolates by the register that you can take home with you." Castiel turned and hugged Gabriel, Gabriel may be a pain in his ass but there were moments where he came through for Castiel.

"Thank you, Gabriel."

"Yeah, whatever, kiddo. Quit being a girl, and go home to mope. You're scaring off my customers." Gabriel patted his back and pulled away, looking slightly embarrassed before he disappeared into the back. Jimmy grinned over at Cas and said, "I'm going to start a pool on how long it takes for Winchester to ask you out."

"I hate you sometimes, Jimmy."

"Love you too, honey!" Followed Cas out to the front of the store as he headed for home.


	3. Chapter 3

You guys are so amazing! I've gotten so many wonderful reviews, and for that…here's another part so soon!

I promise I haven't forgotten about Million Little Things, I have half of the next chapter written out, hopefully I'll have it finished tomorrow for you guys who are following that story. I'm not promising anything though, my mother is coming home tomorrow *bounces* I haven't seen her for nearly 4 months and I've missed her like whoa and I'm picking her up from the airport so I don't know how much writing will be achieved in my excitement. But I haven't forgotten about it, I promise.

And once again, **Scoobert0** is full of the awesomesauce! She's dubbed herself my illustrator, making photoshopped pictures for my stories. She did one for this one, one for my verse and one for Million Little Things. She's amazing! Sing her praises! (Since this website is ridiculous when it comes to links, if you guys want to see said pictures, I've got the links up over on my LJ entry for this. Just follow the homepage link on my profile page here and they're on that first entry you'll see.)

Alright, enough of my babbling, I hope you guys enjoy this part just as much as the others.

* * *

Castiel was staring at the worksheets he'd handed out to his class earlier that day, they were all off at lunch now, and then they'd be in their music and gym class before coming back to Cas for their Social Studies lesson. The stereo was quietly playing his favorite local radio station, his lunch sat forgotten on the corner of his desk; Sarah sat in front of him, watching with her eyebrows raised. Thankfully, she hadn't said anything but he knew it was coming.

"So you spilled coffee all over him and gave him half a hand job?" Castiel's hand tightened around his red pen and he felt his cheeks heat up. It had been three days since they'd had their awkward moment and Castiel had fled in his embarrassment. Riley was still in his class, so that had to be a good sign, but he was still planning to buy himself a fern by next weekend if nothing happened.

"Maybe I should call him."

"And apologize for not finishing what you started?" Castiel groaned and let his head fall onto his desk, Sarah chuckled and said, "Just let him be Cas, he'll get over himself soon and get a hold of you."

"Why is everyone so sure that he'll ask me out?"

"Have you _seen_ yourself Cas?" Castiel lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at her, "I _do_ own a mirror Sarah."

"Well then quit with the low self-esteem! You are _hot_; if you weren't gay I'd be on you like white on rice."

"You _were_ all over me."

"Oh that's right, then you told me you were gay and then we somehow became friends. Still Cas, you're easy on the eyes babe. And once you get past the outer package you're worth knowing. Dean will be lucky to have you and he'd be an idiot not to take the chance." Another blush crept up his cheeks and a smile tugged at his lips. Sarah grinned and reached over to pat his hand, "You're welcome."

Castiel opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone; it was Jimmy judging by the ringtone.

"What Jimmy?"

"Hi Cassie!" Castiel frowned down at the math problems in front of him, Jimmy sounded too chipper, too pleased with himself.

"What have you done?"

"What makes you think I've done anything?"

"Like you're always telling me Jimmy, we're twins. You can't bullshit me either." Jimmy chuckled and said, "Okay…well two things."

"Okay."

"I may have accidentally, sort of in a way set your kitchen on fire." Castiel lifted his eyes to stare at Sarah who lifted her eyebrows in silent question. Castiel ignored her and instead asked Jimmy, "I'm sorry…you did what?"

"I was practicing a new recipe over here since it's supposed to be a surprise for Amelia and I got distracted, left a dishtowel a little too close and…well…_whoosh_ it went."

"For fuck's sake Jimmy! Are you okay at least?"

"What? Oh, I'm fine. You'll need a new stove though, and a fresh coat of paint. Your kitchen could use a paintjob anyway."

"Jimmy-"

"I'll help paint in payment. I'll also pay for half of your new stove, not all of it since those things are expensive." Castiel sighed, rubbed a hand over his face and asked, "What's the second thing?" Part of him didn't even want to know.

"Well, the fire department came, I think you need to have another chat with your neighbor she's way too nosy still. I had everything under control with the fire extinguisher you keep in the pantry, good job on that by the way."

"Jimmy."

"Well like I said the fire department came." Jimmy paused, letting Castiel figure it out for himself. Dean was a firefighter; Jimmy wouldn't bother making it a big deal unless Dean had been one of the ones that responded to the call. Castiel groaned, "Jimmy please tell me you didn't do something stupid."

"Hey, I didn't do _anything_."

"Jimmy-"

"He thought I was you!" Jimmy blurted out finally, "I was still a little freaked out from the flames and he was there being all awkward and slightly adorable and just flat out asked if he could call you sometime so you two could do something together."

Castiel slammed his head down onto his desk. He was going to quit his job, buy his ferns and _never leave his apartment_.

"I know I shouldn't have gone along with it Cas and I'm sorry for that, but at the moment it seemed like a good idea. I figured if I told him he'd be too embarrassed _again_ and he'd be scared off for good. So I gave him your cell phone number, he'll be calling you tomorrow when he gets done with his shift."

"Jimmy…"

"This is a _good _thing Cas, that means you didn't royally fuck it up with your hand job."

"I wish everyone would stop calling it a hand job, it wasn't one!"

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night sweetheart."

"And what happens when he finds out he asked out my _twin_ and not me?"

"Um…you don't tell him? It's also not really my fault he didn't realize, it's obviously in the middle of a school day and you're supposed to be at work and all. He's a bit slow, it's a good thing he's got his looks."

"Bye Jimmy." Castiel hung up before anything more could be said, he sighed into the papers scattered on his desk and finally lifted his head to see Sarah grinning at him.

"So, got a date huh?"

"Technically no, since he asked Jimmy out." Sarah rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him, "Same thing, how could he not tell the difference between you two though?"

"Have you never _seen_ Jimmy, Sarah?"

"From a distance, you two sound completely different though!"

"We're perfectly capable of sounding like each other, and there really isn't any difference in looks between us." Sarah grinned and leaned forward, "Is he straight and single?" Castiel threw his pen at her and let himself silently celebrate that Dean would be calling him in a day's time.

* * *

"I can't believe I asked him out." Dean was pacing back and forth in front of the couch Sam was sprawled on; he watched his brother with eyebrows raised and a smug smile on his face.

"And while I was working! After he'd almost burned his kitchen down!"

"Well at least you finally manned up and did it. Now I don't have to watch you mope all time."

"I don't mope."

"Whatever jerk, you going to call him or what?" Dean glanced down to the phone he was clutching in his hand, nodded, found the new number he'd put into his contact list and called it before he could change his mind.

He almost hoped that it would go to voicemail, would make it easier…maybe.

By the fourth ring Dean's hopes were rising, a voicemail message he could handle, by the sixth he was mentally preparing what he would say when a breathless, "Hello?" greeted him. Dean froze mid-pace and higher brain functions ceased.

"I know someone's there, I can hear you breathing." Dean finally snapped out of it and stumbled out, "Hi! Cas?"

"Yes? Who's calling?"

"It's um…it's Dean."

Silence, then, "Oh! Dean, hi! Hello, hi. Yeah. Hello, Dean." Cas cleared his throat and sighed, Dean couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. Cas at least sounded as flustered as he felt.

"Yeah, hi Cas. Uh, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine thank you." Before anything more could be said Dean heard in the background, "_Uncle Cas I'm kicking your ass here_!"

"Claire! You were supposed to pause it! You little cheater!" There was the sound of laughter, music and then a door slamming shut, finally Cas sighed and said, "I'm sorry about that, my niece and I were playing Guitar Hero when you called."

"Not a problem Cas."

"For the record it was _me_ who was kicking _her_ ass." Dean chuckled and they fell into an awkward silence, Dean fidgeting where he'd stopped his pacing. Sam rolled his eyes and left the room, giving Dean a slight push before he disappeared.

"So, I was wondering if you were available Friday? To do something? With me…when you get done with work and all." Dean used to be much smoother than this. He was able to charm his way into anyone's pants, but one look at bright blue eyes and messy hair and he was a goner.

"I would like that."

"Yeah? Awesome!" And there was the awkward silence again. Dean was about to ask about going for dinner when Cas stuttered out, "Would…would you like to come over to my place for dinner? My new stove is being delivered on Thursday and making dinner would give me a chance to break it in."

"Sure Cas, that sounds nice. Long as you don't try and burn the place down again." Dean hadn't dated anyone for a while but he was pretty sure you didn't go to the other person's place on the first date. But, whatever, it sounded nice. He'd just be coming off work and so would Cas and a nice quiet dinner without having to worry about paying would be nice.

"I can assure you I won't be burning anything down. Does seven sound good?"

"Perfect." Cas gave him directions; they said their awkward good-byes and hung up. Sam poked his head back into the room and asked, "Well?"

"Friday at seven."

"Don't fuck it up." Dean flipped him off and Sam disappeared again. Dean really didn't intend to mess this one up.

* * *

Six o'clock on Friday found Castiel in his kitchen pulling all the ingredients he would need from the fridge. He had figured Dean would prefer a home cooked all American meal to going out to a restaurant; Castiel himself was too exhausted to even think about going out tonight. Handling sixteen eight to nine year olds for a day was more trouble than one would imagine.

He was just getting ready to chop into the onion for his meatloaf when there was a knock at the front door. Castiel glanced at the clock, Dean wasn't expected for another hour, he hadn't ordered anything and his siblings didn't knock, they simply threw themselves into his apartment without announcement.

One day when one of them was expected to come by he was going to have sex on his couch, or on the kitchen counter, hell maybe even on the floor in front of the door just to show them that knocking was a good thing.

The knock came again, Castiel headed for the door and peered through the peephole, Dean stood on the other side. Castiel frowned and looked down at himself; he was nowhere near dressed well enough for this. He'd come home from the school, straightened up a bit, showered then had thrown on his comfiest pair of sweatpants and his old NYU sweater and his hair probably needed to be read a riot act. He quickly ran his hands over his hair, trying to flatten it down a little, probably with no success since his hair had never been as tamable as Jimmy's.

With a sigh he unlocked the front door and pulled it open, Dean looked at him for a moment, took in his clothes and said, "Well I feel overdressed." Castiel rolled his eyes, "Well you _are_ an hour early Dean." Dean blushed, shuffled in place and muttered, "Yeah, sorry. Sam, my brother, was giving me shit and I just had to leave before I punched him in the face. I can leave and come back-"

"No, it's okay, come on in." Castiel stepped back and opened the door further, allowing Dean to step in. After closing the front door again Castiel headed into the kitchen with Dean following behind him, "I promise I didn't intend to remain dressed like this."

"It's okay Cas, you uh…you look good." Castiel looked down at his ratty clothes again, then looked over at Dean who was blushing again. Dean simply shrugged and asked, "Since I'm early is there anything I can help out with?"

"You can peel the potatoes." Castiel thrust the bag of potatoes and the peeler into Dean's hands and turned to pick up the knife to cut into his onion.

Several minutes passed in silence, thankfully it was a comfortable one and not the awkward ones they had been having lately. Finally, Dean said, "You're not crying." Castiel scraped the diced onion off the cutting board and into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients and turned to Dean saying, "I wasn't aware meatloaf preparation was something that would drive someone to tears." Dean chuckled, waved his half-peeled potato and said, "No I mean, whenever Sam or Jess cuts and onion they bawl like babies, and here you are not even shedding a tear."

"Well, here's a cooking tip you can share with them. If you keep your onions in the fridge and cut them while they're cold…no tears."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"Huh. You know, you don't seem like someone who would nearly burn down their kitchen." Castiel took the last peeled potato from Dean and sighed, "I should probably tell you this. Jimmy thinks I shouldn't, but I think if you found out by yourself later it would be worse."

"Who's Jimmy?" Castiel hesitated for a moment then turned and headed into the living room, beckoning Dean to follow him. He pulled a picture off his bookshelf, one of him and Jimmy at Jimmy's college graduation, arms looped around each other and smiling widely at the camera. Without saying anything he handed it over to Dean who stared for a moment before saying, "You have a twin."

"Yes."

"I have a feeling I'm only being told this because when I asked you out on Monday, it wasn't _you_."

Castiel nodded and muttered, "You would be correct."

"Christ." Dean handed the picture back and Castiel returned it to its place amongst his books and other family photos while Dean ran his hands over his face, "Jimmy only did it because he thought that you would never try again if you were embarrassed again. He knows he probably shouldn't have, but he was doing it for me."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Well as long as you're…you know…you right now."

"Yes, I'm Castiel, don't worry."

"Good, otherwise that would be awkward." Castiel smiled and they headed back into the kitchen where Dean sat on the counter and watched as Castiel finished preparing the meatloaf.

"You're right though, if I'd found out myself later, I probably would have been pissed."

"Then I'm glad I for once didn't listen to Jimmy." Castiel moved the meatloaf into the oven and turned to wash his hands while Dean asked , "You two are close?"

"Yes, you'll probably find yourself fighting him for my time." Dean simply smiled, handed him a towel to dry his hands on, "Well if we need to have a custody battle my brother is a lawyer."

They moved back into the living room after that, Castiel watched as Dean moved back over to the pictures on display, Castiel followed and when Dean came to the only photo that contained everyone in it he said, "That's my Father, my oldest brother Michael, Gabriel, myself and Jimmy and my little sister Anna." Dean picked the photo up to examine it closer and said, "You look so _young_."

"Anna was ten, I was thirteen, Gabriel was seventeen and Michael was twenty-two." Dean put the picture down and they moved to the couch, both of them sitting comfortably at opposite ends, bodies turned towards each other.

"What happened to your mom?"

"She died when Anna was eight. Car accident." Dean eyes softened and he scooted down the couch until he could place his hand on Castiel's knee, "I'm sorry." Castiel shrugged, sighed and muttered, "It's okay. It was a long time ago." But oh how he missed her sometimes, missed how she sang when she cooked, missed how she would hug Jimmy and Castiel at the same time and called them her handsome, clever boys. Missed her chocolate chip cookies, her peach pie and strawberry jam, missed how she had pushed Jimmy's and Castiel's beds together and curled up with them on warm summer nights and told them stories until the sun came up.

"I'm still sorry. My mom died when I was four so I only have a few clear memories of her, but if you lost yours when you were eleven, you actually have memories of her."

"I don't know which would be worse, having memories of someone you lost or not having any at all." Castiel absently ran his fingers over Dean's hand where it still rested on his knee, Dean watched him for a moment then took hold of Castiel's hand, squeezed it gently and asked, "They're at least good memories right?"

"Yes, she made the best peach pie." Dean grinned at him, "I love pie." Castiel returned the smile, "I'll make you one then, when peaches are in season."

"I can't wait."

Neither could Castiel.

* * *

That onion tidbit by the way? Trufax.


	4. Chapter 4

A lot of this didn't come out as I intended, but well…here it is anyway. Since you guys are awesomesauce you get an extra-long part (long for me anyway, pretty much double what I usually post). It gets a little heavy near the end, but it needed to be put in. So…enjoy!

Also, I apologize for not responding to everyone's comments/reviews. I like to since you guys take the time to do it, least I can do is take the time to thank everyone. I've just been busy this week is all, but I will respond to everyone next time! I promise, but _thank you_ everyone who is giving me wonderful, wonderful comments and such about this fic. It means a lot to me.

The next part may or may not have the rating jump up...so ya'll know.

* * *

Dean's pretty sure he made a fool of himself during dinner, he's also pretty sure he made all kinds of inappropriate noises but he really couldn't help himself. Cas' meatloaf was a thing of beauty, nothing extravagant, just the kind of meatloaf his mother would have made, but it had a slight spicy kick to it that Dean could really appreciate. The mashed potatoes were also amazing, creamy and smooth, a perfect match to the meatloaf.

As they cleared up the plates Dean asked, "Where did you learn to cook?" Cas placed the last of the plates into the dishwasher and moved to the fridge, opening it up and pulling something from the depths.

"After mom died we were basically on our own. Father was gone on business a lot, and Michael was already in college. Gabriel tried, but he's as hopeless as Jimmy in the kitchen and I didn't want Anna to grow up on Ramen noodles and take out. Mom had a book of recipes that had been passed down through her family, I learned all the recipes, I read books from the library and asked our neighbors for advice."

"Well you obviously learned something." Cas beamed at him and set a plate covered with a lid on the counter in front of Dean.

"So, what are you presenting me with for dessert?" Dean eyed the plate, it could be anything but it looked like pie, Dean really hoped it was pie.

"I made a pie yesterday, Riley informed me that apple is your favorite, and seeing as its autumn it seemed appropriate." Cas lifted the lid and there sat one of the most beautiful apple pies Dean had ever seen, it looked even better than the ones the bakery downtown made. The crust was lightly browned; sugar sparkling on the top, Dean could just imagine the inside was oozing apples and syrup.

"It'll just need a few minutes to warm up." Dean nodded and Cas slipped it into the still warm oven, then turned and pulled out a tub of vanilla ice cream from the freezer.

"Seriously, can I keep you?" A pretty pink tinge colored Cas' cheeks; he smiled shyly and moved back into the living room. He'd changed out of the sweatpants and sweater and into jeans and long sleeved shirt, he'd looked good anyway, but the relaxed look had been a good one for him.

Several minutes later Cas disappeared into the kitchen again and reappeared with two plates with steaming pieces of pie, topped with melting vanilla ice cream.

Dean was seconds away from professing his undying love and being Cas' kept man.

"Dude, seriously. Amazing." Cas smiled at him and said, "I'm glad you've enjoyed it."

"This is so much better than going out to eat. I'm glad I agreed to this." Cas' smile simply widened.

"Gabriel wants to buy the empty business next to him, knock down the walls between the two shops, and have a café added to his business. He wants me to quit teaching and make the sandwiches and pie."

"You really should, people all over town would come for pie like this." Cas shook his head, finished off his pie and said, "I enjoy teaching." Dean hummed, regretfully ate his last bite of pie and set his plate down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

They spent the rest of the night talking, Dean had figured they wouldn't have a lot in common, which they didn't, but it was easy to just talk to Cas. To relax and open up, he didn't know what it was about the man, but he could be himself and not be worried about feeling like an idiot.

By the time Dean left it was well after midnight, but he had the leftover pie in his hands and a promise for another home cooked meal for Monday night when Dean got off work.

Sam, of course, was waiting up for him when Dean snuck into the house.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"How'd it go?" Dean rolled his eyes, held up the pie in one hand and said, "Dude makes an amazing pie."

"Must be love then." Dean grunted and headed into the kitchen to put the pie away, he was too tired to deal with Sam's shit right now; he just wanted to crawl into bed and fall asleep, maybe dream of blue eyes and a small, personal smile that was just for Dean.

It felt like it took an eternity for his shift to finish on Monday, Dean was exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep, but he was also impatient to get to Cas'. He wanted to know what Cas had made for dinner this time, wanted to know what they would talk about.

Cas opened the door as soon as Dean had knocked, he was barefoot and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, apparently, the man could look good in _anything_.

"Well, at least you're dressed this time."

"Would you have preferred me to answer the door naked?"

Dean held back the _God yes, please_ and instead said, "Don't know how your neighbors would react to that." Cas grinned at him and led the way into the kitchen where something smelled so damn good, Dean could feel the drool pooling in his mouth.

"I hope you like spaghetti; the sauce has been cooking all day."

"Man, you're going to spoil me with your cooking and turn me off of diner food and take out forever."

They ate at the small table in the kitchen, Dean telling Cas about the calls they'd gotten while he'd been on his shift, Cas telling Dean about his day at the school. They talked about their mutual hatred for standardized testing and Parent Teacher Conferences, discussed what they planned to do for Thanksgiving and then later for Christmas.

By the time the dishes were cleaned and the leftovers put away it was ten and Dean really should have been saying goodnight and making his way home. He was too comfortable though, slouched over on Cas' couch, Food Network on the TV, Cas sitting beside him grading papers. Any moment now Dean would sit up, gather his wits and actually kiss Cas goodnight and head home to his own bed and look forward to the next time he saw Cas, instead he promptly passed out.

When Dean woke up the sun was shining and Cas was snoring against his neck, one leg draped over Dean's, arm wrapped around Dean's waist. This was something Dean wouldn't mind waking up to every morning and that was close to unfamiliar territory. Cas was dangerously close to the edge of the couch and the last thing Dean wanted was for the guy to fall off so he gently shook Cas and whispered his name a few times.

Instead of waking slowly like a normal human being, Cas flailed awake, slipped off the couch and landed on the floor with a thud and a, "Timezit?"

"Early." One of Cas' hands came into view, groped around on the table for a moment before he found a phone to see what time it was. Cas instantly scrambled up to his feet, letting out a string of curses that was highly inventive for a third-grade teacher.

"S'matter Cas?"

"I'm late!" It was way too early for this much fuss, and what the hell was Cas late for? Dean slowly sat up, catching a glimpse of Cas peeling off his shirt as he headed down the short hallway to his bedroom or bathroom. There was a flash of a toned stomach, flat chest, the curve of a back before Cas was out of view, and Dean was too incoherent for this kind of shit.

"Late for what?"

"Work!" _Right_ it was a school day after all. Cas came rushing out of the bathroom in clean clothes, swishing mouthwash and frantically combing fingers through his hair, trying to bring some order to the chaos. He spit into the sink and started pulling on his shoes, "I'm sorry to rush you out Dean, but I really can't be late."

"No, Cas it's okay. I get it." Dean stood and gathered his things, followed Cas to the front door and headed out when Cas did. Cas paused in front of him, hesitated for a moment then said, "I'll call you later okay?"

"Sounds good." Cas nodded, turned and rushed down the corridor, Dean watched him go then watched as Cas spun around and came rushing back. For a minute, Dean thought it was going to end up like it did in the movies; the character comes rushing back, crushing lips together in a frantic first time kiss. Naturally, though, this wasn't a movie and instead Cas burst back into his apartment to grab his bag, keys and phone and came back out again.

Cas shot Dean a sheepish look as he locked his door, then he paused in front of Dean again, took a deep breath and leaned forward.

For a first kiss, it was unremarkable, much like their first meeting, but it was still fucking perfect. Cas' lips were soft and warm against Dean's, there was a quick nip to Dean's bottom lip and Cas was pulling back and whispering, "I'll call you later."

Dean could only nod and mutter, "Looking forward to it." He knew he probably had the biggest, dorkiest grin on his face, but it was still too early to think straight and he was still half-asleep. Cas smiled and nodded then turned and rushed back down the corridor, yelling into his phone at someone named Sarah to just watch his class until he got there.

Dean doesn't remember his drive home, doesn't remember what he said to Sam and Jess about his not being home all night and doesn't remember face planting into his bed when he finally got there. All he could remember was Cas' weight pressed against his side, Cas' lips against his own and Cas' smooth, pale skin shining in the morning light. God, he was acting like some love-struck teenager dealing with his first crush.

He was jerked out of his light doze a few hours later when his phone dinged with a text message.

_Cas: Riley asked me if I was keeping you as my sex slave now, since you didn't go home last night._

Dean snorted, because_ of course_ Cas texted with proper punctuation and spelling. Dean fought the grin that was threatening to split his face, especially when the first text was followed by another.

_Cas: I can't possibly imagine where he would get an idea like that_. Dean could just _see_ Cas' raised eyebrow and hear his sarcastic tone.

_Dean: must be all the pornos i let him watch when his parents are out of the house_

_Cas: I hope you're joking._

_Dean: of course im joking_

There was no response after that and Dean figured Cas had gone back to work, but Dean was awake now, and he wanted nothing more than to see Cas in that moment. When the idea came to him, Dean smiled and congratulated himself on being oh so clever and went to clean himself up.

* * *

Castiel was tired, and hungry. And a tired and hungry Castiel was a grumpy and petulant Castiel, which wasn't fun for anyone. He was hungry enough to actually consider going to the cafeteria and mooching something off the lunch ladies, or going into the teacher's lounge to scrounge something up but he was too tired to actually get up and do it. He was never going to sleep on his couch again, no matter how peaceful Dean looked.

Castiel sighed, stretched and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling as he idly spun his chair around.

"You're either bored or tired, or both." Castiel jerked and nearly slipped off his chair as he spun back towards the classroom door where Dean was standing, smiling at him.

"Dean! What are you doing here?" Dean stepped into the room and held up a bag, "I brought food figured you'd need it since I made you oversleep and you didn't have time to grab some food."

A moan escaped from Castiel and he reached for the bag, even though it was halfway across the room, Dean smiled again and approached his desk and handed the bag over. Castiel practically tore the bag in his hurry to see what Dean had brought, two sandwiches, chips and bottles of root beer, all from the deli down the street from the school.

"Oh you are amazing, this is perfect." Castiel stood and headed for the couch he used for reading time, they both sat and Castiel handed out the food between them. They ate in silence for a few minutes, Castiel nearly inhaling his sandwich but he was too hungry to really care what he looked or sounded like.

"So Riley thinks I'm your sex slave now?"

"Yes."

"Did he really say that? Or did you make it up?"

"Oh no, he said it. Riley has said some very interesting things over the course of the year." Dean chuckled and nodded, "I believe it, he's an interesting kid."

"He has a great imagination, reading his little stories is always great fun." Castiel finished his sandwich and chips and leaned back against the couch with a content sigh, now all he needed was a nap.

"He writes stories?" Castiel hummed and angled himself on the couch so he was facing Dean and said, "For English I give them a prompt for the day so they can practice writing complete sentences, grammar, that sort of thing," Dean nodded his understanding, "Riley likes to make things up, yesterday I asked for a description of their family. I believe he turned you into a cowboy who rode a great black horse called Impala and his mother was a fairy and his father a giant."

"I love that kid man, he's great." Dean chuckled, finished off his drink and stood to gather their trash and throw it away. Castiel simply remained where he was, full and sleepy and ready to just take a nap. Dean sat back down and said, "So, I've been thinking."

"That sounds like a dangerous activity." Castiel murmured, smiling at the glare Dean shot him.

"Funny, you ass. Anyway, I was thinking we should actually you know _go out_ at some point in time."

"I agree."

"Good." They fell into a comfortable silence, Dean looked as tired as Castiel felt and he wished he could cut his day short and go home to bed, possibly drag Dean along with him. Castiel glanced towards the doorway when he saw Sarah waving at him; she grinned when she saw she had his attention, pointed at Dean, winked and waggled her eyebrows. Castiel frowned at her and watched as she pointed at Dean again, fanned herself with a hand and appeared to swoon. Castiel made shooing motions with his hands; he was _not_ going to do anything to or with Dean on the couch in the middle of his classroom, no matter how tempted he was.

"You okay Cas?" Sarah grinned again and disappeared around the corner; Castiel folded his hands back up in his lap and said, "Yes."

Five minutes before the bell was due to ring Dean stood and said, "Well, suppose I should head out, leave you to inspire the young minds of tomorrow." Cas nodded and stood as well, he just wanted to throw Dean down on the couch, straddle him and kiss him, lick, bite and suck- and Dean was leaning forward and kissing his cheek. Dean leaned back, licked his lips, and blushed, "I'm sorry, that was lame."

Castiel smiled at him and pushed him towards the door, "You can make it up to me another time."

Dean grinned at Cas over his shoulder, winked and said, "_Really_ looking forward to that then."

"Oh you have no idea." Castiel cherished the shocked look that Dean had given him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Thanksgiving Break came and went, Dean spent it with Sam, Jess and Riley while Cas spent it with his family, they had exchanged texts throughout the whole day though. Over the last few months, the two had gone out several times, but more often than not Dean found himself over for dinner on weeknights and breakfast on the weekends after his shifts.

Dean just liked being around Cas, _wanted_ to be around him, he was okay with just sitting for hours and talking about the mundane things of their lives and making plans for future dates. They'd progressed from quick pecks and chaste kisses, now they made out like horny teenagers on Cas' couch, which Dean was perfectly okay with for once. The things Cas could do with his tongue and teeth and hips…there was _no way_ a third grade teacher should be able to do those things. Dean was perfectly content with it all though, he had no urge to have sex with Cas, well he _did_, but not immediately. Dean was determined to keep this different from his past relationships and one night stands.

Cas was different, he was better than all that and he deserved for Dean to _try_ and make it work. Dean _wanted_ it to work, he wanted Cas, wanted to be with Cas, wanted to make Cas smile and laugh and maybe one day even love him.

Now though, Dean was being paranoid. Cas wasn't answering his phone or responding to any of Dean's texts; Riley had come home from school saying they'd had a substitute teacher and would for the next week.

So Dean was being paranoid, he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything wrong, but maybe he had, last time he'd been over there he'd probably said something he shouldn't have, the blood had been rushing a bit south so he couldn't exactly remember.

"Dude, just go over there and talk to him. I'm pretty sure you didn't do anything, he's probably busy." Dean glared over at Sam and continued his pacing.

"Dean, seriously. Quit acting like a little bitch and go over there. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation why Cas is in radio silence." Dean continued his glaring and pacing; Sam simply rolled his eyes and gave up on trying to watch what was on TV behind Dean.

"It is flu season Dean, Cas probably caught it, he does work with little petri dishes day in and out." Jess, ever the voice of reason said from the kitchen. Damn, she was right, what if Cas was passed out in his apartment, sick and unable to call for help? He turned and grabbed his keys and headed out the front door, Sam's, "Thank fucking _God_," following him out.

Dean spent what must have been an eternity knocking on Cas' door, he knew Cas was home, had seen his car sitting in its spot. When the door finally opened, Dean knew Cas well enough by now to know that it wasn't Cas that was standing in front of him.

"Jimmy?"

"Yeah, what do you want Dean?"

"Cas wasn't answering his phone."

"Uh-huh. Doesn't explain what you want though."

"I came to check on him."

"Well he's fine, so you can come by later in the week." Dean frowned at Jimmy, last time they'd met, no matter how embarrassing, he'd been willing to pretend to be his brother to hook them up, now he was trying to get Dean to leave.

Then Cas was there, shoving Jimmy out of the way and leaning against the door, "Quit being an asshole Jimmy. Hello, Dean."

"Jesus Cas, you look like shit." His hair was flat for once, sticking to his forehead and curling at the temples, his skin was paler than normal and there were dark rings underneath dull eyes.

"I feel like shit."

"Which is why you should be back on the _couch_ Cassie." Jimmy tugged Cas away from the door and back into the living room. Dean let himself into the apartment, shut the door behind him and followed the pair. Jimmy got Cas situated on the couch, tucked underneath a pile of blankets and pillows and said, "The dumbass got caught out in the rain without an umbrella, so he got a cold from it. Then he caught the flu from one of his students so we get to be stuck with a sniffling, sneezing, vomiting Castiel."

"Sounds like a good time." Jimmy nodded, sighed, handed Cas some medicine, and pushed the remote for the TV into Cas' hands, "Cassie, I'm gonna go get you some soup from Gary Chu's okay?"

"Sweet and sour."

"I know what you want dumbass, Dean's going to say here and make sure you don't drown in your own puke."

"'Kay." Jimmy nodded at Dean and left the apartment, Dean sat himself on the floor next to Cas' head, "Isn't Cassie a girl's name?" Cas sighed from under his pile of blankets and mumbled, "It's what he used to call me when we were children." Dean was saved from thinking up ways to entertain Cas by Cas quickly succumbing to the cold medicine he'd taken. Soft snores floated out from underneath the blanket and Dean couldn't help but grin at the tuft of hair that was poking out.

Jimmy returned just as Dean was wondering what the hell he could possibly do to entertain himself, nothing was on TV and he wasn't sure how Cas would feel if Dean went to looking around. He'd only ever really spent time in the kitchen and living room; nothing had ever been moved beyond that.

"I got you some food too, wasn't sure what you liked so I got a bit of everything." Jimmy said, closing the front door behind him and heading into the kitchen.

"This an apology for being an ass earlier?" Jimmy stared at him for moment before sighing and saying, "I'm not really going to apologize for that. Cas is my twin; I don't think you fully understand what that means."

"Why don't you tell me then?" Jimmy was silent and they dished out the food, Jimmy putting Cas' soup away until later. Dean took the noodles and Jimmy the meat before he finally said, "When I'm happy, he's happy. When he's sad, I'm sad. People call it a 'connection' I don't know if it's true but we just know each other. It's not knowing what's going on when we're not near each other, it's just an urge, a deep powerful urge that won't go away until contact is made."

"Sounds like a connection to me." Jimmy shrugged at Dean and said around a mouthful of beef, "Call it whatever you want to call it, we just know each other better than anyone ever could. We're close, ridiculously close. When Cas went away to New York for college it was the furthest we'd been from each other our entire lives, we didn't even go a few miles apart and suddenly he was on the other coast."

"Must have been hard." Dean could remember when Sam left Kansas to go to college in California; suddenly not having his brother in his life had been hard. So hard he'd relocated to California himself so he could be near his brother.

"It was. Especially when his dick of a boyfriend broke up with him. They dated for three years and all of a sudden the guy decides he's not gay anymore, dumps Cas and moves in with some chick two days later. Cas was hurting and angry, I knew he needed me but I couldn't do a damn thing since I was all the way out here.

You know how Cas is Dean; you know how caring he is how he trusts a little too easily. People like to take advantage of that, he's been burned before Dean, a lot. So you'll have to excuse me for a being protective of him. I'm sure you don't like to see your brother hurting do you?"

"I don't."

"So you understand then."

"Yeah I get it." Jimmy nodded and they fell into silence, eating their food while Cas snored on the couch. The relative quiet was interrupted by Cas bolting upright on the couch and shouting, "Jimmy!" Jimmy dropped his fork to the counter and hurried over to the couch, sat next to Cas and pulled him close, "It's okay Cas, it was just a dream."

"No! No, there was Michael and…and-"

"It was only a dream Cas, dad and Michael aren't here. You're okay." Jimmy laid Cas back down and placed a hand on his forehead, he turned to Dean and said, "Hey, bring some ice and a cool cloth would you?" Dean did as asked and stood back and let Jimmy take care of Cas, no matter how badly he wanted to help.

Jimmy placed the cool cloth over Cas' forehead and the icepack on his neck; he was talking quietly to Cas who was just hanging on to Jimmy's shirt and watching with wide eyes. Cas dropped off again a few minutes later and when Jimmy stood up, he turned to look at Dean and asked, "Suppose you want to know what all that's about huh?"

"It'd be nice yeah."

"It's a long story, c'mon; I'll make you some coffee." Dean sat at the small table in the kitchen, waiting as Jimmy made up their coffees. When he finally sat down Dean kept his mouth shut, Jimmy would tell him whatever he felt he had to tell Dean when he was ready. Dean didn't want to get his ass kicked out of the apartment, he didn't care if Jimmy didn't tell him anything, Cas could always tell him when he was ready, he just wanted to be here, keep an eye on Cas and make sure he was okay.

"After mom died we saw even less of dad, he was always working a lot even when she was around, but he at least made an effort to see us kids and his wife. When she died though he started going off on business trips and staying at the office and letting us handle ourselves. We managed okay though, Gabriel and Cas would do the shopping, Cas did the cooking, I was always good with numbers so I handled that since dad sent us money every month. Anna did the laundry and cleaning up. Michael was already off at school and we saw him even less than we saw dad which was okay, none of us was particularly close to him with the age difference.

Even when Gabriel moved out and went to college, he made sure to keep an eye on us, check in at least twice a week, take us to movies and carnivals and whatever. He pretty much became our father figure." Dean nodded, he could relate to that. He'd practically raised Sam after their own mother died, his dad caught up in his grief.

"We were a pretty religious family, church and praying, that whole thing. So when Cas told our dad and Michael that he was gay, well…it didn't go over to well. Dad sent him to doctors and church group meetings and camps, but you know Cas, he's stubborn, refused to change who he was. Kept trying to tell dad that how could God hate the gays? Love is love, God is supposedly all about the love and why would he create us with the capability for men to love men and women to love women, if it were so wrong, wouldn't he have made it impossible?"

"I take it that didn't go over well either?" Jimmy nodded at Dean, sighed, rubbed his hands over his face and continued.

"Michael kept telling Cas he was sick, that they'd cure him and he would understand, all if it was for his own good. When none of it worked though, dad decided the only way was to 'beat the gay' out of Cas."

"Shit."

"Yeah. None of us really knew about it, Cas kept it to himself, didn't want us to worry about him or make a big fuss, didn't want the family to fall apart. One day though, Gabriel came to visit for the weekend, Anna and I had been at a school thing while Cas went home to work on a project or something. Gabriel picked us up and we headed home early, when we got there dad was just…beating the shit out of Cas. Cas was lucky we got home when we did, if dad had kept on going like he had been he'd either have killed Cas or knocked him into a coma, and Michael was just _standing_ there _watching_. How can someone just stand and watch their brother being beaten?" Dean tightened his hold on his coffee cup, he was sure if he knew where Cas' dad and brother lived, he'd find himself in jail for murder.

"Gabriel lost his shit at that, he got Cas, Anna and I out of there. He transferred schools and moved us into an apartment. The place was such a dump, it was only one bedroom, Gabriel slept out on the couch while we managed to get two mattress into the one room, Cas and I shared a bed while Anna had one to herself. After we graduated I got a scholarship for college, full ride, I didn't want to go, I wanted to get a job and help out until Anna graduated high school in three years, but both Cas and Gabriel wouldn't have any of it.

I went to school full time, Gabriel was in his last year of college and had a part time job to help pay some of the bills and rent. Cas got himself two jobs, he put off going to college so he could help keep us under a roof, he blamed himself for it, thought it was all his fault."

"That's a load of bullshit."

"That's what we told him, none of us blamed him, if anything it should have been us taking care of him after what he'd gone through. Even him working two jobs and Gabriel's part time job we barely ever had money for food, one winter we even had to go without heat, it was hard and it sucked but we managed. When Anna finally graduated from high school Cas finally got into college, Gabriel had graduated and I had one year left. We were alright after that, even with Cas on the other side of the country.

Cas kept us all together for those three years, made sure we had food and electricity, heat, made sure Anna made it to school, and that I had enough time to study. He ran himself ragged keeping us together and sane, so you'll understand why we're all so protective of him now. It's our turn to take care of him now, so if you hurt him or take advantage of him? You won't just have me to deal with me ripping your dick off, but you'll have to deal with Anna skinning you alive and Gabriel murdering you in your sleep. No one would find the body either. Understand?"

"Yeah Jimmy, I understand." Dean's voice cracked halfway through his statement, but Jimmy nodded and said, "You make him happy Dean. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time so for that I like you."

"Thanks."

"If you take care of him Dean, he'll take care of you." Dean nodded as Jimmy stood and put away the leftover food and cleaned up their cups.

"So, go take care of him for me okay? I'll be by in the morning."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, Dean. I'll come back in the morning to check on you guys, just…take care of him." Dean nodded again, watched as Jimmy went over and removed the ice pack from Cas' neck and the cloth from his forehead. Jimmy pressed a kiss to Cas' temple, whispered something to him and gathered his things and left.

Dean headed over to the couch; Cas blinked bleary eyes up at him and croaked, "Dean?"

"Yeah Cas."

"You shouldn't be here, I'll get you sick." Dean smiled and helped Cas stand up, "Little late for that dude, you don't remember letting me in?"

"No."

"Well you did." Dean guided Cas past the kitchen and down the hallway to his room.

"Jimmy?"

"Went home, said he'd be back in the morning."

"Oh. He usually doesn't do that." Cas curled up on his bed, watching as Dean pulled the covers up over him, then reached out to grab Dean's wrist and asked, "Are you staying?"

"Yeah Cas, I'm staying."

"Good." Dean smiled at him then went and turned out the lights around the apartment and headed back into Cas' room, pulling his shoes, socks and pants off before crawling into the bed beside Cas.

Cas immediately rolled over and pressed against Dean's side and muttered, "I'm sorry if I get you sick."

"It's okay Cas; I've got a few days off anyway." Cas hummed and Dean rearranged their limbs until they were comfortably wrapped around each other.

"Thank you for staying Dean."

"I'll always stay if you ask me to Cas."

"Always want you to stay." Dean knew Cas probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, but Dean knew that it didn't mean that Cas wasn't being honest with him.

"Then I will." And for once Dean actually meant it.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the delay on writing this. I blame the attempt at porn in here. Took me forever to get over myself and just write that much out.

And again, sorry for not responding to comments, figured you guys would like it more if I sat down and forced this out rather than procrastinating with comment responses. But _thank you_ everyone for your comments, you're all amazing and I appreciate them more than you know!

So! Yeah. Here's that rating jump I promised. It's nothing very graphic, but it's there anyway. And yeah, my first time writing/posting porn in any sense so I hope it's okay. If porn isn't your thing, feel free to skip over it, it's not very long and you won't be missing anything important.

So…enjoy! *runs away to hide*

* * *

It takes three days for Castiel to feel like he isn't going to die a horrible, vomity death in his bathroom. Three days of both Dean and Jimmy fussing over him and treating him like he wasn't perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

When he woke on the third day Castiel was pleased to note he didn't feel the urge to go running into the bathroom to puke up nothing but bile. He was also pleasantly surprised to find that Dean was in bed with him, curled around Castiel's body as if trying to protect Castiel from the vomit monster in his sleep. Castiel couldn't help but smile and rolled over, burrowing into the warmth of Dean's body.

Dean snorted awake, arms tightening around Castiel, "S'matter Cas? Gonna puke?"

"No, I'm feeling a lot better."

"S'good." Castiel hummed and let Dean drop back off into sleep, he could hear Jimmy moving around in the kitchen and for once Castiel felt he could actually eat something right now. All he had to do was get away from Dean who didn't seem to be letting go of him anytime soon. Castiel tried to wiggle free but Dean simply tightened his hold and pulled Castiel closer to his chest, normally Castiel would simply fall back asleep but he was_ hungry_ and he hadn't properly seen Jimmy for several days now.

"Dean." No response.

"_Dean_."

"Hmm?"

"Let me go."

"Why?"

"I'm hungry."

"Go back to sleep Cas, we'll feed you later." Castiel sighed and wiggled again, trying to break out of Dean's grasp, but Dean was having none of it.

"Dean, I'll make myself puke on you if you don't let me go." Dean instantly released him and disappeared underneath the blankets, grumbling the entire time. Castiel simply smiled at the top of his head and rolled out of bed, quickly changing clothes before making his way into the kitchen.

"Hey! You're alive."

"Tea first, coherency later." Jimmy smiled at him and handed him a warm cup, "Figured you'd be up and about today, flu always took you three or four days to get over."

"What, are you keeping a journal on me?" Castiel sipped at his tea, sighing happily while Jimmy simply smiled at him. Jimmy came around the island and took hold of Castiel's elbow, leading him towards the living room, "I have something I need to tell you."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." Castiel situated himself on his couch, curling his legs up underneath himself while Jimmy paced in front of him.

"Spit it out Jimmy." Jimmy sighed, flopped next to Castiel on the couch and said, "Dean knows."

"I'm sure Dean knows a lot of things. Want to be more specific?"

"About, you know. Michael and Dad. What we went through those years afterwards." Castiel paused with his cup halfway to his mouth, glaring at Jimmy from the corner of his eye. Jimmy fidgeted a little then burst out with, "I know it wasn't my place to say, but you were dreaming about them again and he was standing right there, and you know you'd never tell him!"

"I may have. Jimmy…damnit-"

"If you're going to be in a relationship with him, he deserves to know Cassie." Castiel sighed and leaned forward, setting his cup of tea down on the coffee table. He felt like puking again.

"Cassie," Jimmy shifted closer to Castiel's side, eyes wide with worry, "I'm sorry okay?" Castiel sighed and twisted around, and pressed his face against Jimmy's neck, forcing the world away. Jimmy laid down on the couch, pulling Castiel with him until they were lying side by side, squeezed together on the couch, "I really am sorry Cas, forgive me?"

"Of course I do. It's just that we've only been dating for two months now Jimmy, if I _were _going to tell him I'd rather it be after I don't know…eight months? So we know it'll at least last." Jimmy stroked his fingers down Castiel's back, his nose buried in the hair at his temple.

"You two will last."

"And how are you so sure?"

"I just do." Castiel rolled his eyes, shoved Jimmy off the couch and sat up. Jimmy glared up at him from the floor while Castiel grinned at him, "That's what you get. Now go home, I'm going to take a shower to get rid of the sick person smell and then I'm going back to bed for a week."

Castiel stepped over Jimmy and headed down the hall to the bathroom for his shower, and heard Jimmy gather his things to leave. Castiel paused by the bedroom to see if Dean was awake or not, thankfully he was still sleeping soundly so Castiel went and took his shower.

When Castiel returned to his bedroom, freshly showered and in clean clothes, Dean was blinking sleepily at him from the bed. Dean lifted the blanket in invitation and Castiel took it, crawling in and situating himself into Dean's space.

"Feeling better?"

"Much." His throat was still sore, his nose still stuffy but he wasn't nauseous and there was no fever. Dean draped an arm over Castiel's waist and let their foreheads rest together, they laid like that for a while, just staring at one another.

Finally, Dean muttered, "When I told my dad I was bi he didn't talk to me for two days. It took Sam bitching at him about how he was acting like he didn't love me anymore to snap him out of it."

"Dean-"

"Shut up, let me say this." Castiel nodded and waited patiently for Dean to gather his thoughts.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. It was wrong what your brother and dad did, they shouldn't have done it and if I ever see them I'm going to kick their asses into next week," Castiel felt his lips twitch up in a smile and Dean continued, "I'm also sorry you guys had it so rough afterwards. My dad wasn't around too much but he at least brought in a decent paycheck to help pay for everything. Knowing though, what you guys went through, knowing what you did for your siblings, it amazes me Cas, how strong you are. I think any other person would have crumbled under all of that and would have given up. I don't plan to leave you or anything Cas, I think knowing just makes me like you even more."

Castiel didn't have any words for Dean, didn't know what to say. No one outside of his siblings had ever sat him down and told him anything remotely similar, so he simply leaned forward and kissed Dean.

"Thank you Dean."

"You don't need to thank me for telling you the truth."

Castiel sighed, allowed the moment to pass before he patted Dean's hip and said, "Come on, I'll make us breakfast."

"Oh, thank _God_, I'm _starving._"

After breakfast they found themselves back in bed, Dean lying on his side while Castiel sprawled on his stomach in the patch of sun slanting across his bed, he's perfectly content to just spend the rest of the day like this.

"Don't you have to work?" Castiel mumbled into his arm at some point, Dean's hand had found its way to his back and had been slowly stroking up and down his spine, it took a lot of Castiel's willpower not to arch up into the touch like a cat.

"Called in sick."

"Didn't have to do that."

"Didn't have to, but I wanted to." Castiel wasn't going to argue with logic like that when he had the sun soaking into his skin and Dean gently rubbing the tense muscles of his shoulders. They both sighed when Castiel's phone beeped with a new text message, Castiel really didn't want to move to get it and he really didn't want Dean to stop what he was doing.

"I'll get it for you." Dean muttered, rolling over Castiel's body so he could reach the nightstand where Castiel's phone was sitting. Dean ignored Castiel's annoyed grunt when Dean didn't move from where he was sprawled across Cas and said instead, "It's your sister Anna. She wants to know if you're feeling better and if you're free this weekend for…'girl time'?"

Castiel wiggled his arm free from where it had been trapped underneath his body and snagged his phone from Dean's hand so he could respond. Dean shifted his weight finally, sliding along Castiel's side until his leg was draped over Castiel's and his chin was resting on Castiel's shoulder.

Dean watched Cas type out his response before saying, "You two are close." Castiel hummed, hit 'send' and flipped his phone shut before turning to face Dean. When had they gotten so comfortable with each other that they could just lay sprawled in bed all day? It'd only been two months and they'd only gone out a handful of times, Dean more often than not ending up in Castiel's kitchen and living room for their time spent together.

"I think it was hardest for her, what we went through when we left home."

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked, pressing a soft kiss to the exposed skin of Castiel's shoulder. Castiel thought back to that god awful apartment, the small bathroom the four of them had to share, the small bedroom with two beds crammed into it, lumpy couches and dim kitchen, the front door that had to be bodily opened and the mysterious stain on the ceiling.

"High school is hard enough, and Anna didn't have her own bathroom or bedroom, we couldn't buy her new clothes very often, it wasn't easy for her." Castiel could remember coming home late one night from a shift at work to find Anna sobbing into her pillow so as not to wake Jimmy. Remembered sitting next to her, stroking her hair and humming a song their mother used to sing. Castiel remembers feeling angry and sad when Anna finally told him that she was crying because she wanted to go to Prom but they couldn't afford a dress and even if they could, no boy would take her since they were 'poor'.

"I never even went to my Prom." Dean muttered, his chin was still on Castiel's shoulder and his hand was resting warm and heavy on Castiel's lower back. He hadn't been aware he'd been talking aloud, telling Dean this memory.

"I worked double shifts for a week at both my jobs, Gabriel even put in extra hours at his job so we could get Anna a dress. It wasn't expensive or anything, not name brand or one of a kind, we got it off the clearance rack in a department store, but she loved it. I think she still has it in the back of her closet."

"She went alone?" Castiel chuckled and rolled onto his side, he hooked a leg over Dean's hips and said, "Jimmy and I both took her. People didn't know we were her brothers, a lot of girls were pretty jealous of her after that."

Dean grinned at him, pinched Castiel's side and said, "I bet they were."

* * *

Dean finally left Cas' apartment after spending four days there. He doesn't want to leave and he can tell from how Cas wouldn't stop kissing him that Cas wasn't ready for him to leave either. Dean needed to work though and Cas had to get ready for his weekend with his sister.

When Dean walked in the front door he heard, "You're alive! I was about to leave to file a missing persons report." Dean glared over at Sam and said, "Don't be overdramatic, I called."

"Yeah, like twice. Rare occurrence when Dean Winchester doesn't call his little brother every day. I was beginning to think Riley was right in saying you were being kept as a sex slave."

"You've got to tell me where Riley got that term." Sam shrugged and asked, "So, everything alright with Cas?"

"Yeah, he's feeling better."

"Good." Dean eyed his brother, Sam was staring at him, smile vanished and eyes serious.

"What Sammy?"

"You really like him don't you?" Dean rolled his eyes and sighed, so much for avoiding the whole 'let's talk about what's going on' conversation with his brother. Sam stood up from where he'd been sitting and blocked Dean's exit.

"You really must like him if you haven't even had sex with him yet and were willing to spend four days looking after him."

Dean sighed and said, "Yeah, Sam. I like him okay? Things are…different with him. He's hot, sure and I'd do him in heartbeat, but it's just…different, things are…" Dean shrugged and trailed off, unsure of how to put it all into words.

"Deeper?"

"Sure, we're emotionally connecting and spending the time braiding each other's hair and painting each other's nails. Can I go shower now? I need to get ready for work." Sam shook his head at Dean, but stepped aside so Dean could make his way down the hallway to the bathroom and his room.

Before he leaves for work that night he sends Cas a quick text, letting him know he's heading off to work and will call Cas when he gets off. He doesn't know when he started telling those sorts of things to Cas or why he'd even bother to care, but he does it anyway and smiles at Cas telling him not to die in a fire because it would put a damper on their relationship.

Dean's not entirely sure how he got from the bar, joking and drinking with Jo and Bobby after a particularly uneventful shift, to sitting on Cas' couch, Cas straddling his thighs, hands working Dean's t-shirt up and over his head.

"You're not wasting any time huh?" Cas simply hummed, lips and teeth finding that spot on Dean's neck that sent shivers down his spine.

Dean hadn't been planning on seeing Cas tonight, but Cas had texted him asking him to come over and naturally Dean went. He definitely hadn't planned on having six feet of horny teacher pressing him back against the door soon as he was through it, kissing him stupid.

He felt Cas' hands at the buttons of his jeans, clever fingers quickly popping it free and moving to his zipper, "Not that I'm complaining Cas, but-"

"Stop talking Dean." Dean obediently lifted his hips when Cas tugged on his pants, and Cas certainly wasn't wasting any time. Before Dean could blink his pants and underwear were down around his knees and Cas was straddling him again, hands hot and heavy as they moved over Dean's chest and arms.

"You're wearing too many clothes for this Cas." Cas had answered the door in only a flimsy pair of pajama bottoms, Dean had only ever caught glimpses of Cas, and seeing Cas like this now, all long lines and lean muscle, _wanting_ Dean, pretty much did him in.

"So why aren't you doing something about it?" Cas whispered, biting down on Dean's bottom lip, hips rocking downward. Dean bit back what would have been an embarrassing whimper and tugged at the waistband of Cas' pants. Cas pulled away so he could kick them off and Dean _did_ let out a whimper then, missing Cas' weight and heat.

Then Cas was back, one hand braced on the back of the couch while the other wrapped around Dean's aching dick, "Do you know what I did today Dean? When I got home from work?" Dean could only find it in himself to grunt, Cas' hand was doing things down there Dean had only ever dreamed of.

"All I could think about was having you in me," Cas' hand stilled and Dean felt the muscles in Cas' thighs tense when he lifted himself a little, "So when I got home, I laid myself out on my bed," Cas paused and slowly lowered himself down onto Dean, and Dean is no expert on gay sex but he's pretty sure there needs to be _some_ form of preparation. Dean's hands flailed a little from where they were sitting on Cas' thighs, moving up to his hips, trying to stop him because it _had_ to hurt, but Cas took him easily, moving slowly down until he was seated on Dean's lap.

"I fucked myself open with my fingers Dean, I imagined it was you the whole time."

"Jesus Christ, Cas. You're going to kill me one day with this shit." Cas simply smiled at him, acting like it had been his plan the entire time, "I just didn't want to have to wait when I got you here."

Dean could only moan in response as Cas finally started moving, he may have opened himself up but he was still tight and hot and Dean thinks he's probably going to die on Cas' couch, but God what a way to go.

Cas set a punishing pace, and it would figure his seemingly innocent Castiel would like it hard and fast and could moan better than any pornstar Dean had ever heard. Dean's hands begin moving without thought, takes in the trembling thighs, the smooth, sweat slicked skin of Cas' back, the damp curls of hair at his temples.

They're both getting close; Cas is losing his rhythm, his breath rushing out hot and quick against Dean's neck. Dean can feel his own orgasm building, pleasure racing through his veins like liquid fire, fingers skittering over Cas' waist seeking something to hang on to.

Dean feels more than sees Cas come, feels every inch of Cas tense, one hand gripping Dean's shoulder tight enough to bruise, feels Cas shudder and shake, moaning out Dean's name that has one to many syllables placed in it.

It's seeing Cas, Cas who is always so in control of himself, seeing Cas lose every ounce of that control because of _Dean_ is what sends Dean right over the edge with him.

When Dean's brain comes back online he's slumped against the back of the couch, Cas is flopped over next to him, legs thrown casually over Dean's lap. They're both panting and sweaty, coming down off their respective highs but they're loose and relaxed.

"You know, you're awfully kinky for a third grade teacher." Dean finally manages to get out. Cas only snorts and looks over at Dean, his eyes a deep navy blue that Dean could just get lost in forever.

"I didn't even get my fucking _shoes_ off." Cas laughed this time, poked at Dean's stomach with his foot and asked, "Well what's stopping you now?"

"I think you broke me." Cas grinned, stretched out like a cat, sighed and said, "Oh, I think you'll be okay to go again soon." Dean returns the grin, kicks off his boots finally and curls his fingers around the curve of Cas' calf.

"Long as it's not on the couch again."

"I was thinking more along the lines of the shower." Dean's jeans and boxers join the pile of clothes on the floor, "That's something I can agree with, just let me get the feeling in my legs back first."

In the morning Dean's feeling more relaxed than he's ever been, but that's probably thanks to the three rounds of the most vigorous and athletic sex he's ever had.

They're walking down the sidewalk side by side, the day was bright and warm and Cas had kicked Dean's ass out of his bed, claiming they were going out to get lunch at the deli down the street. They'd eaten their lunch and were just walking down the street with no particular destination in mind. They just walked, hands brushing occasionally, shoulders and hips bumping.

Nothing was said between them, there really didn't need to be anything said, just the enjoyment of each other's company and the enjoyment of the unseasonably warm day in December.

Finally, though, Dean blurted without any thought or reason, "You should come over on Christmas." Cas gave him a look from the corner of his eye as they paused at a crosswalk.

"It's just going to be me, Sam, Jess and Riley. Jess' parents usually come and cook us up a nice meal and all, but they're going on vacation or something this year instead. So you should come over, bring your weird and crazy family along."

Cas glanced at him again, smiled and said, "You just want me to come over to make the dinner."

"Well, there is that as well. Jess isn't _bad_, but she's not you Cas." Cas was silent as they crossed the street, then he asked, "Jimmy's family would have to come along as well, if that's alright?"

"More the merrier."

"I'll ask them then. In fact…we can ask now." Cas took hold of Dean's hand and dragged him down the street and to Dean's horror, Gabriel's chocolate shop. He had nothing against Gabriel, hadn't even officially met him, but he was Cas' older brother and father figure and Dean's pretty sure both he and Cas are sporting the 'we just fucked like bunnies all night and it was _amazing_' look.

As Sam's older brother and father figure, he knows how the treatment of a new girlfriend, in this case boyfriend, goes. Dean's not really up for having his nice day ruined with the 'what are your intentions with my brother' interrogation.

It's too late though, the door is opening with a happy _ding_ and there's a happy shout of, "Cassie! Finally come to visit me, it's been _days_ bro!"

"I'm sure you were absolutely miserable without my presence." Gabriel came out from behind the counter and gave his brother a one armed hug from the side before his eyes landed on Dean.

"Feeling better?"

"Much."

"Good, means you can have this." Gabriel produced a chocolate, seemingly out of nowhere and handed it over to Cas who made a pleased, happy noise and popped it into his mouth. Gabriel stared over at Dean as he handed another chocolate over to Cas and said, "Hey, Cassie, why don't you go and get Jimmy to take his break? He's been back in the office crunching numbers all day and could you check on the chocolates in the back? If they're done can you put in the next batch?"

Cas' eyes went from Gabriel to Dean, back to Dean and said, "Sure Gabe. I'll only be a few minutes Dean." Dean nodded and tried not to look like a deer caught in the headlights. Gabriel waited until Cas had disappeared into the back, which was followed by the sound of a rolly chair being dragged out of the office and Jimmy shouting obscenities at Cas.

Gabriel had a slight smile on his face as he eyed the back of his store; it quickly vanished though when his attention shifted back to Dean.

"So, you and Cas are an item now huh?"

Dean nodded, "Couple months now."

"Jimmy told me he told you how things used to be." God did this family not have any secrets? Dean nodded again and watched as Gabriel stepped closer, he may have been shorter than Dean but he was still damn intimidating.

"So I don't have to go into too much detail on what I'd do to you if you hurt him."

"Evisceration, castration, skinning, never finding the body." Gabriel nodded, looked Dean up and down, "Jimmy tells me you make Cas happy, so that counts for something. He deserves the best, he was supposed to go out and make a name for himself, travel the world, not teach third graders in some small town in California. Just…be patient with him. He's been through a lot, more than you can know."

"I've never really had a relationship before, mostly just one night stands and quick flings. Longest one I had was three months and that was years ago. This is different though, Cas is different and I…I really want it to work between us. I really like him."

"Good." Dean opened his mouth to add more, but two identical heads popped around the corner, one above the other. Dean couldn't tell who was who without seeing clothes and body language, but the one on the bottom quickly revealed himself to be Cas by saying, "Are you done with your alpha male posturing?"

"Yeah Cas, I think we're good." Both Cas and Jimmy came out from around the corner, walking awkwardly since apparently Jimmy refused to let go of his twin. Dean hadn't seen them interact outside of Jimmy taking care of Cas when he was sick and from the way Gabriel didn't give them weird looks this seemed to be in the norm.

The two stopped a few feet away, Jimmy with his arms wrapped around Cas' middle and his chin resting on Cas' shoulder and stared at Dean with the same blue eyes. Cas leaned back against Jimmy, smiled at Dean, turned his attention to Gabriel, and said, "Jimmy and Anna have already agreed, but Dean asked if we would join him and his family for Christmas."

Gabriel stared over at the twins for a moment before his attention returned to Dean, "The Novaks and Winchesters under one roof huh? Sounds like a good time, I'm in."

"Great, can I have Cas back now? I would like to finish enjoying the day with him if you don't mind." Jimmy sighed dramatically and buried his face against Cas' neck, muttering, "I suppose I can loan him out for another day." Cas chuckled and patted Jimmy's hands before pulling away and dragging Dean towards the door.

"So, both our families under one roof, sounds like it'll be an interesting experience." Dean said a few blocks later.

Cas waited until they were waiting at a red light to respond, "I think 'interesting' is an understatement."


	6. Chapter 6

So, I had a blast with this chapter, well…the beginning anyway. For some reason my brain rebelled after I was starting to get into the insanity and went off into the angst/drama I've been writing for the next chapter (yeah I've already got a good portion of part 7 written before this was even halfway done…I'm weird) and for the angst-fest I've been slowly working on for the next installment of my 'verse.

Dunno what the hell is going on with my brain. So I apologize for the slowly tapering off and all together probably craptasticness that is the end of this part. I hope it's enjoyable anyway, the beginning part is at least largely entertaining (to my strange brain anyway) there's also some porn that can hardly be considered porn, it's also probably pretty crappy, I don't even know why I put it in there, I'm _still_ considering just deleting it, but well…whatever.

I also apologize for any errors that may pop up in this part, it's 6AM and I just want to go to bed, but I wanted to post this up finally since it's been torturing me this past week.

And once again, another shoutout to **Susangel** for crackin' the whip and giving me more deadlines and providing me with Riley and Claire and cheering me on despite having her own things to work on. She's the best muse _ever_ and this chapter wouldn't have popped up for at least another week, so you guys can love her too.

Okay, last little thing before you guys can read. I promise.

Since fanfiction is still havin' it's little hissy fit about posting and such (found a way around that thankfully) but I'm also not getting _any_ alerts when you guys review, which means I can't respond (unless there's a way I'm unaware of outside the link I get in my email) so...I just want to say _thank you_ for everyone's amazing reviews and your support and such.

I love you guys so hard sometimes it's just embarrassing and probably a bit creepy, but I don't effing care. You guys are amazing.

That is all. You may read now. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Castiel watched in amusement as Riley moved from his desk through the classroom towards the front where Castiel was sitting behind his own desk. It was nearing the end of the day, it was the last day before Christmas break and he'd let the kids have the last hour to do as they pleased. Most were sitting quietly and chattering with their friends while a few had come up to wish Castiel a Merry Christmas.

Riley moved with purpose though, he looked intent on his destination and he held his notebook in his hands like it was his personal shield. Castiel tried hard to hide his smile as Riley stopped in front of his desk, shifting anxiously from foot to foot.

"Is there something you wished to speak to me about Riley?" Riley nodded, glanced down at his notebook then dragged an empty chair around so he was sitting on the other side of Castiel's desk. Castiel bit back another smile and turned his chair so he was facing Riley and patiently waited.

"Uncle Dean said you're coming over for Christmas."

"Yes. Is that…okay?" He hadn't even considered that his and Dean's relationship might be a little awkward or weird for Riley, but Riley broke out into a wide grin and nodded.

"I don't mind. You're my favorite teacher _ever_." Castiel chuckled and didn't bother pointing out that he was only Riley's third teacher, fourth if he'd gone to kindergarten. Castiel leaned back in his chair, watched with another small smile as Riley tried to imitate how Castiel was sitting with his right ankle resting on his left knee.

"So, Mr. Novak, you're coming over for Christmas."

"Yes." Riley eyed him, looked down at his notebook again and asked, "What kind of movies do you like?" Castiel felt his eyebrows raise, this wasn't what he had been expecting at all.

"What kind of movies do I like?" Riley nodded.

"Zombie movies. I'm an avid fan of zombie movies."

"Me too! I'm not allowed to watch them though, but Uncle Dean lets me sometimes when mom and dad aren't home." Castiel smiled again; of course, Dean would let his eight-year-old nephew watch horror movies late into the night.

"What's your favorite drink?"

"My favorite drink? I would have to say root beer. Especially root beer floats."

"I love root beer floats!" Root beer floats were one of Castiel's guilty pleasures, along with blueberry pie. Castiel sighed wistfully, he'd baked a blueberry pie over the weekend…he'd have a slice when he got home later.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Blue or green."

"Red is my favorite. Last week it was blue, and the week before that I really liked orange. I can never make up my mind!" Castiel grinned at his enthusiasm and waited, he had a feeling Dean had set his nephew up to do this, why he had no idea, but it was entertaining.

He shouldn't have let his guard down though because Riley's next question nearly did him in.

"Do you and Uncle Dean role-play?" Castiel felt as if he'd just swallowed his tongue, "My mom and dad do _all the time_. Dad really likes it when mom's a nurse." Castiel hid his face in his hands, he was trying so hard not to laugh, this was not something he should laugh at, this was something he should be reprimanding!

"You could be Uncle Dean's teacher." A bubble of hysterical laughter burst from Castiel's mouth.

"You could teach him lots of things, 'cause you know _a lot_ of different things Mr. Novak." Castiel leaned forward, elbows on his knees and head in his hands as he shook with his silent laughter.

"And if he behaves badly you get to punish him!" Castiel knew what it was like to die finally. He was _dying_, laughter bubbling up and out of his chest in breathless wheezes, his ribs ached and he could feel the beginnings of tears building up in his eyes. How a _third grader_ knew about these things was beyond Castiel, but he was going to remember this forever. Maybe he'd even find a forum online or something and write it out; surely his classes weren't the only ones that came up with the strangest things to say.

"Are you okay Mr. Novak?" Riley asked as soon as Castiel managed to get himself under control and sit up straight. Castiel took a deep breath, nodded and made a 'carry on' motion with his hand. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet.

Once again, he should have known better.

"Are you and Uncle Dean gonna get married?" Castiel coughed, rubbed the back of his neck and felt the blush creeping up his face.

"He really loves you, you know." Castiel felt his blush deepen, his cheeks heated and he cleared his throat. Riley didn't seem to notice though, "I really like you too. So it's okay if you're my uncle too."

"Um."

"Do you make Uncle Dean sleep on the couch when he's bad?" How had his questions turned from innocent inquiries to this? Riley didn't seem to know the nature of his questions though, he just rattled right through them without noticing Castiel's uncomfortable reactions.

"Mom makes dad do it sometimes, it doesn't work out so well sometimes though, since dad is so tall. He always apologizes to mom afterwards though, and not because she's right, he just doesn't want to sleep on the couch anymore."

Castiel coughed to hide another round of laughter, scratched at his cheek and noticed Riley staring up at him, his hazel eyes wide and innocent, "So do you?"

"Uh-"

"I don't think Uncle Dean would mind, since he's shorter. But then you wouldn't have a sex slave!" Castiel blinked at Riley, he was so getting Dean for this.

"Is my uncle a stud?" Castiel learned you _can_ choke on your own spit and it is really quite painful.

"'Cause you were walkin' kind of funny the other day and Nathan said that's because-"

"Okay! Well, Riley…school is almost out, why don't you go pack up your things." Riley frowned at him for a moment then nodded, grinned and hopped off his chair while saying, "See you next week then Mr. Novak!"

"I'm sure we'll have a _blast_ Riley." Riley grinned at him and headed for his desk where he sat down and began slowly writing out what Castiel assumed to be his answers to the few sane questions he'd been asked. Castiel turned to face his desk, pulled his phone out from his pocket, and quickly typed out a text.

_Cas: I'm not having sex with you for a week._

Dean responded almost immediately.

_Dean: what? why? whatd i do?_

_Cas: Your nephew isn't as subtle as you thought._

_Dean: crap_

Castiel chuckled and his response was interrupted by Emily shooting up from her desk, Castiel watched as she ran towards him, tears running down her face. He could not wait for this day to be over; Castiel seriously needed a break from the insanity that was his third grade class this year.

"Mr. Novak!" Castiel knelt down in his chair enough so she could throw her arms around his neck and sob into his shoulder. Castiel rubbed her back, gave her a few moments before pulling her away and asked, "What happened Emily?"

Emily wiped at her eyes, hiccupped and said, "Alex called me a baby!" Castiel sighed and eyed the clock, only ten minutes to go.

"Why don't you go into the restroom and calm down okay?" Emily nodded, sniffed and disappeared into the bathroom while Castiel called Alex up to his desk.

"Did you call Emily a baby, Alex?" Alex, who had been shuffling his feet and looking anywhere but at Castiel, shot Castiel a wide eyed look and shouted, "No!"

"Alex-"

"I didn't call her a baby! I said 'Hey Baby' like when my dad calls my mom and asks her to come over for the night!" Oh, how Castiel could not _wait_ for this day to end, the inside of his cheeks were beginning to hate from how often he was having to bite them to keep from laughing. He waved Alex off after the boy had promised to apologize to Emily when she emerged from the bathroom.

When the bell finally rung Castiel stood at the door of his classroom wishing everyone a happy holiday break and giving out a few hugs. When the hallways were empty and all the kids off with their parents Castiel collapsed behind his desk with a relieved sigh and closed his eyes.

"Crazy day for you too huh?" Castiel cracked an eye open and nodded at Sarah as she came in and collapsed into the chair across from his desk.

"The lunch ladies must have fed them something."

"I don't doubt it. My kids were _wild_ today."

"Mine too. Especially Riley, he came up to me and asked me all sorts of…_inappropriate_ questions."

"Like what?" Castiel eyed Sarah; she simply smiled innocently at him so he wrote them down and pushed the piece of paper across the desk. She quickly read them and burst into giggles, "'Stud' oh my _God_. I love that kid and I haven't even met him."

"An _eight-year-old_ should not be asking such questions."

"It is a legitimate question though Cas, you _were_ walkin' pretty funky on Wednesday."

Castiel snatched the paper from her hands and growled, "I was _not_."

"Oh sweetie, you were. You had that little hitch in your step and the way you were holding your hips-"

"_Sarah_."

"I didn't know you liked it so rough Cas."

Castiel glared at her, looked away and mumbled, "So what if I do." Sarah chuckled and said, "Well, I hope you give it as good as you get it." A faint blush crept up his cheeks again and Sarah clapped happily, a giggle escaping her lips.

"Oh, Cas. You _dirty little whore_!"

"_Sarah_!"

"Oh, I love you Cas, really I do. I'm just glad one of us has a sex life now."

"You'll find someone Sarah."

She waved a hand at him, "What are your plans for Christmas?"

"My family is going over to Dean's."

"Well that sounds like a hoot." Castiel grunted his agreement and gathered up his papers and grade book. He was getting ready to stand to leave when his bag was packed when Sarah giggled and said, "You _can_ be Dean's teacher. You should take home your yardstick to spank him with."

Castiel sighed and pulled Sarah up from her seat, she was still giggling as he pulled her from the room and locked the door behind him, "_Bye_ Sarah."

Sarah leaned up and kissed his cheek, "Call me for New Years, we can all go out and do something together."

"I will." Sarah disappeared into her own classroom to gather her things and Castiel headed home with a smile on his face despite his crazy day.

* * *

Dean woke up Christmas Eve day to the most amazing smell in the history of ever. He stretched out until his toes poked out from underneath his blanket and froze when he felt a warm body next to his. Dean cracked an eye open then grinned when he saw Cas smiling at him. Dean rolled over and wrapped himself around Cas' warm body, smiled more when Cas curled into him and whispered, "Morning."

"What are you doing here?"

"You wanted me to make dinner remember?" Dean hummed and asked, "Little early for that isn't it?"

"It's two in the afternoon Dean; I've been here since eleven." Dean pulled back a little to look at Cas, slipped a hand up under the soft t-shirt to fit his hand to the warm curve of Cas' back, "You should have woken me."

"You needed your sleep; Sam said it was a busy shift for you." Dean nodded and pressed his face into Cas' neck, a lot of car accidents had happened due to the rainstorm that had moved through the area over the weekend. Cas murmured happily when Dean lightly scraped his teeth on the soft skin of Cas' neck, his head tilting slightly for Dean to better access.

"It's been _way_ too long Cas."

"Shouldn't have set your nephew on me then." Cas muttered, his own hand slipping up Dean's shirt.

"I didn't mean for him to ask _those_ kinds of questions." Cas merely grunted and hooked his leg over Dean's hip, pulling their bodies closer together. Dean groaned quietly, feeling Cas' answering hardness against his own, "_Way_ too long."

"You should stop talking." Cas muttered, rolling his hips in a way that had Dean's eyes rolling back in his head.

Dean obediently fell silent, the only sounds in the quiet room their harsh breathing and the rustle of sheets and blankets being moved aside. He lost himself in Cas, lost himself in the feeling of smooth skin and shifting muscles under his hands, in the quiet breathy moans Cas made. This was something Dean could never tire of.

Dean clung to Cas' hips, felt Cas' finger digging into his back, felt Cas tense and bite down on Dean's shoulder to muffle his moan as he came. Dean thrust against Cas' denim covered hip a few more times before his own orgasm washed over him, his moans swallowed by Cas' mouth covering his own in a downright filthy kiss.

Cas pulled away after their breathing had returned to normal and Dean's heart didn't feel like it was about to burst out of his chest. Cas looked down, snorted and muttered, "I haven't come in my pants since I was fifteen."

Dean chuckled and hooked a finger into the waistband of Cas' jeans, "Should have pulled them off before you crawled into bed with me then."

"Lucky for me I brought a spare change of clothes."

"Why? You predict coming in your pants?" Cas rolled his eyes at Dean before he rolled out of the bed, stripping out of his jeans and underwear as he headed over to a bag set in the corner.

"Just thought I'd spend the night…if that's okay with you." Cas shot Dean a look over his shoulder before he bent to pull his spare clothes from the bag, Dean admired the view for a few moments before responding, "No Cas, I don't mind. Sam's already planned for everyone to stay the night anyway."

After some mild groping and cleaning themselves up as well as they could Dean and Cas headed downstairs into the living room where Dean realized he was the last one to arrive to this party.

Cas pointed to the woman curled up on the armchair with Jimmy and said, "That's my sister-in-law Amelia," he pointed to the girl playing Mario Kart on the Wii with Gabriel and Riley, "my niece Claire," then to the red head sitting on the couch, "my little sister Anna. You already know Gabriel and Jimmy." Dean smiled his greeting to everyone and followed Cas into the kitchen to hunt for some coffee, or beer. Preferably both.

Cas went to the oven, probably to check on the turkey they'd all finally agreed on for their Christmas dinner. Jess was standing at the counter chopping up vegetables, she smiled over at Dean when he wandered into the kitchen and said, "Morning sleepyhead!"

"Afternoon." Dean corrected, heading for the coffee pot that was still gurgling, "Where's Sam?"

"We sent him off to the store for whipped cream." The oven door shut with a clunk and Cas joined Jess in chopping things and they shot off into a conversation about the differences of teaching third graders and eighth graders. Dean rolled his eyes and ambled back into the living room and sat himself down on the couch.

He was allowed a few minutes of silence to enjoy his coffee before Anna set aside her book and said, "So you're Dean."

"I'm Dean." Anna hummed and eyed him. Dean had the feeling that if Riley and Claire weren't in the room he'd be on the receiving end of his third 'hurt my brother and die a painful, slow death' speech. He was glad for the kids being in the room, he really didn't want to hear a third speech.

Jimmy chuckled from his seat and said, "Anna, Gabriel and I have already given Dean the cold shoulder treatment, you don't need to do it too."

Anna sighed and crossed her arms, "You guys get to have all the fun."

"Not our fault you're always off working Anna-Banana." Anna scowled and kicked at Gabriel's leg, "Don't _call me that_." Gabriel chuckled, tossed his controller in defeat and stood disappearing into the kitchen where seconds later Cas was scolding Gabriel for sticking his fingers where they shouldn't be stuck.

Jimmy, Amelia and Anna departed the living room shortly after the shouting from Cas and Gabriel continued, claiming they needed to break it up. Riley soon disappeared as well when he heard Sam return, leaving just Dean and Claire in the living room. Claire had paused the game and was sitting on the couch, just _staring_ at Dean. She certainly had Cas' genes running around in her.

Finally, "What are your intentions towards my uncle?" Dean blinked up at her from staring into his empty coffee cup, "Huh?"

"Do you love him?" Dean blinked at her again, he was fairly certain that yeah, he loved Cas, but he figured it was too early in their relationship to be claiming such things. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Cas off.

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Claire hummed, crossed her arms and went back to staring at Dean. Dean stared right back; this was probably Cas paying him back for the whole Riley incident.

"You know he practices yoga right?" Dean nodded; he'd walked in on Cas several times while he'd been in some interesting positions, which had then led to some pretty hot and bendy sex.

"That flexibility must be nice in the bedroom, bathroom too." Dean felt his eyebrows shoot up, he was sure Claire was only about twelve, so why the hell was she talking to him about his sex life with her uncle?

"You guys haven't done it in the kitchen have you? If so, I'm never eating over at Uncle Cas' ever again. You're actually better off not answering that." Dean snorted and wished his cup wasn't empty, he could go for a nice distraction right about now because he sure as hell wasn't going to tell Claire that yes, he and Cas _had_ done it in the kitchen. On the table, on the counter top, in front of the stove. They'd had sex in the living room on the couch, in the laundry room on top of the dryer, in the bathroom in the shower and of course in Cas' bedroom. If he told Claire any of that, she'd probably refuse to go visit Cas ever again and would probably be scarred for life.

"You know you guys will have to get married right? My dad said you're not supposed to have sex before you get married."

"Well…"

"You know that my Uncle Gabriel, Aunt Anna and dad will kill you if you don't right? And that's only if they can find the body when I'm done with you." There was something about being on the receiving end of a chilly glare and death threat from a twelve year old that's positively terrifying.

"That's not something you have to worry about Claire."

"Good, cause Cas is my favorite uncle."

"I can tell." She went back to staring at him and Dean went back to wishing he had something to distract himself with.

"So what's your favorite position?" The question caught Dean completely off guard, so much so that he almost actually _answered_ her. He didn't even _know _what his favorite position would be, he loved it when Cas rode him, loved it when Cas was a writhing, panting mess underneath him and loved doing Cas from behind since it got him nice and deep and the deeper he got the louder Cas was. Dean caught himself in time though, glared at her innocent smile and headed into the kitchen to get something a little stronger than coffee.

"No sex before marriage? I think that's a little hypocritical Jimmy." Dean muttered in passing. Jimmy stared at him blankly for a minute before smiling and saying, "Hey, you're not allowed to judge me. Whenever you get a little girl of your own you'll realize that you don't want her to have sex, _ever_."

Fair point.

The rest of the day went fairly quickly, Cas spent most of his time in the kitchen fixing up the rest of dinner, so Dean found himself in there more often than not, staring shamelessly at Cas' ass whenever he bent over to check the turkey. He found it better than the movie marathon going on in the living room.

It was eight o'clock by the time everything was ready, the ten of them squeezed in around the dining room table that was only supposed to hold six. No one seemed to mind being cramped though, the food looked _amazing_ and Dean was squeezed in between Sam and Cas, he really couldn't find it in himself to complain.

After dinner everyone sprawled somewhere, Sam and Gabriel were cleaning up, their playful bickering floating into the living room from the kitchen. Riley and Claire had passed out thirty minutes ago and Jimmy and Jess had carried them up to Riley's room where they would sleep for the night, comfortable in the fort they'd built earlier in the day. Jess and Amelia were currently setting up the guest bedroom, Dean was sprawled in the armchair, Anna was dozing on the loveseat and Jimmy and Cas were passed out on the couch, so tangled together that Dean couldn't tell whose arm or leg it was that he was staring at.

It had been interesting to see Cas interact with his twin all day; they were extremely touchy, constantly hugging or leaning. They seemed to hold the ability of having a conversation using only their eyebrows, were constantly finishing each other's sentences and somehow knew where the other was without needing to look around. Dean found their interactions oddly entertaining.

Amelia returned to the living room and stood over the couch, looking like she was making a plan of attack on how to get her husband back. Dean hefted himself out of his chair and went to stand next to her, ready to help since he was ready for bed and Cas was supposed to be with him tonight.

"You get used to it after a while." Amelia said, reaching down and brushing hair off of- Dean's not sure but he thinks its Jimmy's forehead. Jimmy mumbled something in his sleep, his fingers tightened in Cas' hair and Cas mumbled something back and pressed his face into Jimmy's chest.

"You get used to them; I always thought they were _too_ close. Made the mistake of trying to keep Jimmy from seeing his brother as much as he did, figured at some point they had to grow apart at least a _little_ you know?" Dean nodded, he and Sam had been close growing up, but they'd separated themselves a little at a certain age. Didn't hug or share a bed anymore, got their own hobbies and interests. Jimmy and Cas didn't seem to have done any of that.

"Don't make that mistake though Dean, Cas will never be fully yours just like Jimmy will never be fully mine. It's like they're incomplete unless they're together, like they're only half the person they're supposed to be unless they're as close as they can be to one another."

"Yeah, I've been figuring that one out." Dean muttered, watching as the twins sighed in unison and shifted closer together.

"Like I said, you get used to it." Amelia knelt and shook the two awake, both grumbling unhappily and glaring up at Dean and Amelia. They both worked together and got Cas and Jimmy untangled and standing, Cas glared up at Dean with sleep fogged eyes, looking like he'd just had his favorite toy taken away before he turned and threw himself into Jimmy's embrace.

Dean kept himself from pulling them apart when he saw Amelia standing off to the side, waiting patiently. Dean followed her lead, figuring she knew more about how things worked between the two than he did. Jimmy and Cas whispered the each other for a bit before Jimmy kissed Cas' temple, patted his hip and said, "Dean's looking like a neglected puppy Cas."

Dean glared at him and Cas shifted his head on Jimmy's shoulder, glancing over at Dean before smiling and saying, "He does look pretty pathetic."

Dean glared harder.

Cas smirked at him, kissed Jimmy's cheek and said goodnight and Merry Christmas to him, Amelia and Anna before he turned and collapsed against Dean.

"Are you incapable of holding yourself upright or something?" Dean grumbled as he half carried, half-dragged Cas upstairs to bed.

"Turkey makes me very, very sleepy." Cas said to Dean's shoulder. Dean rolled his eyes, undressed them both, and then finally collapsed into bed. Cas made a happy sound and wiggled around until his back was pressed to Dean's chest. Dean threw his arm over Cas 'waist, wedged a leg in between Cas', buried his nose in the soft, thick hair, and said with a happy sigh, "Night Cas."

"Goodnight Dean."

Morning came with the bedroom door banging open, a shout of, "It's time for presents! Get up!" and Riley doing a Superman leap onto the bed. Cas had somehow managed to burrow into Dean's side, which left Dean open to Riley slamming into him.

"Morning Ril."

"Uncle Dean! Mr. Novak! Get up!" Riley rolled off Dean and began jumping up and down on the bottom of the bed; Cas groaned, rolled away from Dean and pulled the blankets up over his head.

"It's early. Go away." Jimmy stumbled into the room then, eyes bleary and a large yawn breaking across his face as he blatantly ignored Dean, crawled under the covers, and curled up with Cas. Dean rolled his eyes, pulled the blankets down and nudged Cas' back, "Get up, before Riley blows something."

"No." Both Jimmy and Cas growled, clearly not bothered by the sun shining in their face and the small child jumping down by their feet. There was the sound of feet thudding down the hallway and then Claire was leaping onto the bed as well, she landed on Jimmy and Cas with an excited, "Pancakes! Presents! Time to get up!"

"Oh for fu-" Jimmy clapped a hand over Cas' mouth before anymore could be said. Dean chuckled, poked at Cas' side and got his hand slapped away. Cas glared at Jimmy who grinned back, glared at Claire who had settled behind Jimmy and was smiling innocently then glared at Dean for simply being there.

"Come on Cas, you're awake now and it's not like you can fall back asleep now." Dean said, tugging Cas away from Jimmy. Cas let out a sigh and the five of them headed downstairs where breakfast was being served.

Fifteen minutes later everyone was settled in the living room, Claire and Riley anxiously waiting to be told it was okay to hand out presents, Dean was surprised they hadn't puked with how fast they'd wolfed down their breakfast.

Dean, Cas, Jimmy and Amelia were sharing the couch, Amelia tucked in against Jimmy's left side while Cas was leaning against his ride side, Cas' legs thrown over Dean's lap, obviously not caring that he was taking up most of the room on the couch. Dean didn't mind, just allowed one hand to curve around Cas' calf while the other held his cup of coffee, he was comfortable and full of pancakes and it was quickly turning to be one of the best Christmases that he'd ever had.

Dean and Cas had agreed to only get each other one present, not wanting to spend too much money on the other. It had taken Dean a fair chunk of time to find a gift suitable for Cas, even after sending his creeper of a nephew in for information (which obviously had ended badly); he'd only found Cas' gift when he'd been out buying Jess' present.

He just hoped Cas liked it.

Riley handed Cas the present Dean had gotten him while Claire handed Cas' present to Dean. Dean watched nervously as Cas slowly peeled the wrapping off, not ripping it off like a normal person would have done, which made Dean peel the silvery wrapping off his gift as well.

Cas nudged Dean's leg with his foot and muttered, "You don't need to be nervous Dean." Dean simply shrugged and turned his attention to his present while Cas returned to his.

Dean flipped open the box that his gift was in and grinned, he remembered bitching to Cas a week ago about how the knife he kept for work had been lost somewhere, Cas had apparently taken his, "Just get me a replacement or something for Christmas," to heart.

It was everything Dean would need for work, but it was about fifty times nicer than the piece of crap he'd had for himself. The handle was a dark, polished wood with the firefighter medallion stamped into it, the blade was a matte black and had his name etched into it.

"You're very hard to shop for." Cas muttered, watching Dean from the corner of his eye. Dean grinned at him, squeezed his leg and said, "It's perfect Cas, thanks. Now open your damn present."

A soft smile spread over Cas' face as he opened the small box in his lap, Dean watched anxiously as Cas trailed his fingers over the dark blue prayer beads nestled in their box, "They're beautiful Dean."

"You like them? I know you said you came from a religious family but you haven't really-"

"Dean, they're perfect." Cas pulled them from their box, the glass beads clinking together quietly, the small silver cross dangling from the end glinting in the soft morning light. Cas smiled again and leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the corner of Dean's mouth, "Thank you."

"Just glad you like them." Everyone fell silent, either organizing their gifts or watching Riley and Claire playing with their new possessions.

"You got more presents than I did." Jimmy muttered, breaking the silence that had fallen and eyed the wrapping paper piled on the floor in front of Cas. Cas looked down at his pile, shook his head, "No, I'm pretty sure we got the same amount."

Jimmy leaned over and rifled through Cas' pile of presents, repeated the action on his own pile, shook his head, "You got eight. I only got seven."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and Amelia leaned over and whispered to Dean, "They do this _every_ year."

"One present Jimmy, I think you'll survive."

"I know I'll survive, but it's not fair!" Cas rolled his eyes, smacked the back of Jimmy's head, "Stop acting like a five year old." Jimmy returned the smack with one of his own, "We're supposed to get the same amount so it doesn't seem like everyone's playing favorites!"

Cas shot Dean a frustrated look, Dean only shrugged, he was plenty entertained by all of this. Cas glared at him, then turned his attention back to Jimmy in the form of tackling him off the couch. They rolled around on the floor, shrieking at each other while Anna and Gabriel easily moved out of the way of their flailing limbs, which just proved this _did_ happen every year.

Dean watched as Cas wrapped his arms around Jimmy's waist to keep him from crawling away, "What, you scared?"

"Scared of your ugly face."

"I'm ugly?" Cas smacked Jimmy on the back of the head again, "We're twins you idiot!"

"Yeah, but I'm the better looking one." Jimmy grumbled as Dean stood and grabbed Cas around the waist, hauling him away from Jimmy as Amelia took Jimmy's arm and pulled him away from Cas.

"Break it up you two don't want to go destroying Sam and Jess' nice house." Cas let out a sound that sounded a lot like a 'hmpf' and allowed Dean to pull him back onto the couch. Cas settled against Dean's side and Dean caught Sam smiling at the two of them, his smile only widened when Dean glared at him.

Cas was absently playing with the prayer beads Dean had gotten him, Cas had wrapped them around in wrist like a bracelet, it gave Dean a warm feeling in his chest whenever he caught Cas just touching them. He tugged Cas against his side and whispered, "I love you Cas."

Cas' eyes widened before a smile blossomed on his face, it was the kind of smile Dean loved, the corners of his eyes crinkled and his nose scrunched up, slight dimple in his cheek. Seeing that smile made Dean wonder what the hell he had been nervous about.

"You do huh?" Dean nodded, felt his own smile growing in response to Cas'.

"Good because I love you too."

Then Gabriel just _had _to ruin the moment, "God, you guys are gonna make me barf."


	7. Chapter 7

Wow guys, I'm truly sorry about the delay on updating this. I hadn't realized it's been a month until now.

I feel _really_ bad about that. I got distracted with my freakin out on signing up for the big bang and then the dc_everafter challenges over on LJ, and then that last angst fest that went into my verse took over a lot of my time as well. So...wow...it's been a month. Damn, sorry guys.

Anyway!

This was meant to be an actual chapter, something that would allow the plot to move forward and then work into the conclusion. Instead my mind rebelled against that since it's kinda angsty and since I wrote 15,000 words of angst lately I was jonesing for some fluff. So instead, you get this nice filler chapter before the plot moves forward. I think this story will be about 9 or 10 chapters when it's finished, so we're getting there!

It's done a bit differently than I usually do, mostly because my brain sort of refused to write this like a normal chapter, so instead you get snippets that represent the passing of time. I think...4 moths pass in this chapter. So we're clear. I don't even know what my brain was thinking.

But this is a fluffy, cuddly, slightly porny schoompfest of a chapter to make up for the angst I put ya'll through in the latest installment of my verse (to those of you that follow that anyway).

So I hope you enjoy, and I hope you don't mind the time hopping I do. I think the overall cuteness will make up for it.

Enjoy!

Oh, also. For you awesome/impatient (you know who you are) people, I came to the understanding that I'm allowed to post snippets (like a sentence or two at a time) of my big bang fic. It'll be done in July, but it won't be posted until October I believe, so if you guys want some snippets every now and then, let me know and I'll gladly put them up at the beginning of chapters I write and post. And you guys can tell me what ya think.

So, now...read on!

* * *

Cas was fretting. Dean didn't know any other word to describe it.

"Cas."

The blanket was smoothed of its wrinkles, the edge neatly folded down at Dean's waist.

"Cas."

The water pitcher on the table by the bed was straightened, the cup following.

"_Cas_."

The magazines were sorted into alphabetical order, piled neatly by the water pitcher and glass. The curtains were twitched into order, evenly spaced and folded just right. The bathroom door was pulled mostly shut; the chart at the end of Dean's bed was straightened as well.

"_Castiel_."

Cas turned his worried eyes to Dean, "Yes Dean?"

"Would you knock it off? I'm fine." Cas sighed, sat back down and fidgeted with the edge of his shirt, looking at Dean with his kicked puppy expression.

"I'm sorry Dean. It's just…you could have _died_." Dean sighed and held out a hand, Cas scooted his chair closer and took Dean's hand in his own.

"But I didn't."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful you saved the girl's life…but, you could have _died_." Cas' grip on Dean's hand tightened, the worried expression morphed into one of fear and even deeper worry. Dean sighed and squeezed Cas' hand.

He knew his job was dangerous, knew that he was bound to be injured sometimes, possibly even die. He never really thought too hard about it, just took it as it was and went with the flow. Plus he was fine, the burn on his leg was healing nicely and he'd be able to go home in the next few days. The smoke inhalation had cleared; his wrist had been set into a cast and signed by everyone, so overall Dean was fine. He wasn't in any danger anymore, plus he got the bonus of some time off now. Time he intended to spend with Cas since apparently Cas was having issues.

"Will you…" Cas hesitated, fingers stroking Dean's in his anxiety.

"What Cas?"

"When you get released will you come stay with me?"

"I was planning to Cas."

"Really?" Cas looked up, his eyes wide and hopeful. Dean couldn't help but grin at him, "Yeah Cas. Just, let me spend a few days with Sam? He took the time off work and everything and-"

"Of course Dean, I wouldn't want to take time from your brother. I would just like it if you would stay with me for while you're healing is all."

"I was planning to anyway Cas." Cas' wide grin was worth everything.

Two days later he was laying in his own bed finally, watching as Riley slumped out of the room to get ready for bed while Jess and Sam simply grinned at each other. They were up to something, Dean just didn't know what.

"So, going over to Cas' today right?" Jess asked, shooting Dean a grin that promised bad things for him.

"Yeah, unless you don't want me to-"

Sam waved his hand, interrupting Dean, "Seriously Dean, go." Dean eyed his brother; it had been nice spending the time with Sam, Sam having taken the last few days off from work to do his worrying and fussing over Dean. As much as Dean loved him, he was beginning to miss Cas a little, plus Cas wouldn't fuss as much. Hopefully.

Dean did feel a little bad though for spending so much time with Cas, he felt like he'd been neglecting his family, not spending as much time with them as he should.

"He's getting that tragic look on his face again." Jess whispered, nudging Sam with her elbow. Sam rolled his eyes and Dean glared at the two of them.

"What is it Dean?"

Dean fidgeted under Sam's gaze, those damn puppy dog eyes were going to be the death of him, and if Sam and Cas ever joined forces with their pathetic looks, the world would end.

"I just feel like I'm…neglecting you guys or something." Jess snorted and did a very dramatic eye roll while Sam just stared at Dean as if he'd grown another head.

"Are you kidding me Dean?"

"Um…no?"

"Dean, I'm _happy_ for you. I'm glad you're not spending time here with us." Dean frowned at Sam.

"It means you're living your own life finally Dean. You're not worrying about me anymore. You spent your whole life worrying about me and raising me and because of that, you never got to be you. You never got to have time to yourself to live your own life. You've been here living mine pretty much. Not that I'm complaining, you're my brother and I love you. But it's about time you got your own life."

Dean continued frowning while Jess rolled her eyes again and patted Dean on the shoulder, "We like Cas, Dean. He's good for you and you're good for him. You've been dating him for what…four months now?"

"Something like that yeah."

"Which is good, you need to be spending time with him. Hell you practically live with him anyway."

"Do not." Dean muttered, crossing his arms and glaring at the two. Jess scoffed and headed for Dean's closet, "Easily solved argument. We do the closet test."

"The what now?"

"If more than half your stuff is over at Cas' and not here, you're pretty much moved in with him."

"That's a load of bullshit." Dean muttered as Jess opened his closet with an exaggerated flourish. To Dean's surprise, it was looking very…bare.

"Ha! I knew it! I bet he made room for you in his own closet and dresser. I bet he even does your laundry!" Dean blinked, feeling a blush creeping up his cheeks. Now that he thought about it, he had walked in on Cas folding some of Dean's laundry more than once. He also had a key to Cas' apartment so on the weekends when he got off his shift, he could let himself in in the morning and crawl into bed with Cas. Cas would wake up a few hours later and make him pancakes then they'd have some lazy morning sex and go back to sleep, Cas would wake up again a bit later and crawl out of bed without waking Dean and do his own thing until Dean joined him later in the afternoon.

Dean blinked and muttered, "Huh."

"We're happy for you Dean, okay? You're finally doing something for yourself instead of for others. You're not neglecting us; you're spending more than enough time with us and Riley." Jess patted his shoulder and plopped herself on Sam's lap who was nodding in agreement.

Dean cleared his throat, crossed his arms, "If you're sure."

"You might as well just move in with him so we can turn your room into a nursery so we can have another baby."

Both Dean and Sam choked.

* * *

Castiel was just putting the last bit of cookie dough into the oven when he heard his front door opening, judging from the hesitant sound it was Dean and not one of his siblings. Castiel headed into the living room to greet him, scowled and said, "You shouldn't be walking around without your-"

"Oh don't you start too, Sam and Jess already gave me that lecture."

"Perhaps you should have _listened to them_." Castiel pulled one of Dean's arms over his shoulder and helped him to the couch. Dean may have been better, but the burn on his leg was still tender and gave him trouble if he walked without the aid of crutches, which naturally Dean refused to use.

Dean rolled his eyes, sniffed the air and asked, "Cookies? Are you making cookies?"

"Yes, but they're not for you." Castiel lowered Dean to the couch, eyed him for a moment before saying, "They're for my students. You can have a few, but only if you do what your _doctors have told you to do_."

"You know, I came here to get _away_ from the mother hen act."

"Well you came to the wrong place then."

Dean sighed, pouted, "Can I _please_ have some cookies Cas? Your students shouldn't get all the baked goods here."

Castiel leaned forward, patted Dean's head, "Don't worry baby, I made you an apple pie earlier." Dean grinned, grabbed hold of Castiel's wrist and pulled until Castiel had no choice but to tumble forward and land on Dean's lap.

"First, don't call me baby," Dean arranged Castiel on his lap until he was situated with his side pressing into Dean's chest, legs draped over the arm of the couch, "Second; I want to keep you forever."

Castiel hummed, tilting his head to allow Dean better access when he felt the press of lips against his neck, "Well, play your cards right and you will."

Dean groaned against his neck, "You are such a _sap_."

Castiel rolled his eyes, managed to get himself out of Dean's grasp so he could pull the cookies from the oven, "You're the one that brought it up."

"Whatever." Dean grumbled, as Castiel disappeared into the kitchen. Dean's complaints were silenced though when Castiel returned with a plate of warm apple pie, vanilla ice cream melting on top of it.

* * *

Dean hobbled past the bathroom, paused and backtracked.

"Um…Cas?" Cas looked up from what he was doing, eyebrow raised in question.

"What are you doing?" Cas sighed, looked back to his leg, "I lost a bet."

"You lost a bet?"

"Yes." Dean inched into the bathroom and Cas returned his attention to leg he had raised and resting against the edge of the bathtub for better access.

"Do I want to know?"

Another sigh. "I decided to play matchmaker."

"Oh?" Dean leaned against the bathroom sink, watching.

"Against my better judgment I introduced Sarah to Gabriel. They get along well enough, Jimmy and I made a bet. I thought it would take Gabriel three days to officially ask Sarah out, he said a week."

"Uh huh."

"Gabriel asked Sarah out yesterday, a week after I introduced them."

"Yeah, I gathered. So now you have to…what?"

"Shave my legs, and keep them shaved until my birthday." Dean snickered and Cas went back to shaving his leg. It was only March and Cas' birthday wasn't until August.

"Well, at least you've got nice legs." Dean said, grinning as Cas chucked the razor at his retreating back.

Dean learned later that night though, that he really loved feeling those ultra-smooth legs wrapped around his waist as he fucked Cas into the mattress.

* * *

Dean was pretending to watch TV and Castiel was pretending to work on his lesson plans for the week when Dean said, "I just realized something." Castiel was curled up against Dean's side on his couch, grade book and planner in his lap; he allowed his head to fall onto Dean's shoulder and made a questioning noise to let Dean know he'd heard his statement.

"I haven't been back to Sam's in what, three weeks now?"

Castiel hummed, felt his eyes drift shut, "Does that bother you?" Dean chuckled, moved Castiel's work onto the coffee table and lifted his arm from where it was draped along the back of the couch and wrapped it around Castiel's shoulders.

"Not as much as I thought it would."

Castiel dozed on and off for a bit, Dean content with sitting on the couch and watching whatever held his interest on the TV.

Castiel roused enough when Dean laughed at something, his half-awake brain deciding that blurting, "Gabriel thinks I should buy a house," was a good idea.

Dean jerked, "Jesus, I thought you were asleep."

"I was." Dean hummed, his hand rubbing Castiel's arm absently.

"Why does Gabriel think you should buy a house?"

"He thinks I need a home. Says I deserve one."

"Well, you do. You like your apartment though don't you?" Castiel nodded. He loved this apartment, it was just the right size for him, was close to the school and to stores. He'd been in it since he'd moved here from New York, the rent was cheap enough for him to afford on his teachers salary and have enough left over to pay for other things. It _was_ his home.

"Gabriel thinks I need something more permanent than an apartment. I like it here though, its home." Castiel felt himself hesitate and lifted his head enough so he could actually look at Dean.

Dean's attention was on the TV when Castiel whispered, "It can be your home too Dean." Dean's hand paused in its movement on Castiel's arm and he slowly turned to look at Castiel, "Cas?"

Castiel pulled away so he could sit up straight and actually look at Dean. They'd only been dating for five months, _what the hell was he doing_?

"Would..." Castiel cleared his throat, forced his nerves to calm, it was too late to pull back now, "Would you move in with me?"

Dean stared at him for a moment, and then grinned, "Of course I will Cas. You think I'd say no?"

Castiel shrugged and realized he was smiling so hard his cheeks hurt, "It's just…you love Sam and, I don't know."

"Sam and Jess already pointed out I'm practically living here." Which was true, most of Dean's clothes were here and he spent the majority of his time here with Castiel anyway. He even had a key already.

Castiel did the only thing he could think to do; he tackled Dean off the couch and to the floor in his joy.

* * *

Dean would be the first to admit he loved sex. He loved everything about it, he loved how physical it all was, how _messy_.

He was learning now though, that he loved nothing more than sex _with_ Cas. Sex was great. Sex with Cas was amazing. Awesome. So spectacular he never had a hope of forming a coherent sentence afterwards or being capable of walking in a straight line.

Dean didn't know if it was because he loved Cas, he had that deeper connection that was never formed between one-night stands, of it was because Cas was just _that_ good. He didn't know and right now he didn't care, he had Cas beneath him, glaring and whimpering, heels digging into Dean's back urging to him just _move._

"_Dean_." Dean smirked down at Cas; it was hard for him to not fuck into Cas like he wanted to, like Cas wanted him to. Hard and fast so Cas would be feeling him the next day while he went about his workday. Dean wanted nothing more than to do that, but he was enjoying how Cas was quickly falling apart, near begging, which Cas had never done.

"Would you just…" Cas huffed out a frustrated sigh, attempted another glare as he shifted impatiently.

"I'll get you there Cas, don't worry."

"I'm not worried Dean, I just want you to _fuck me already_."

"Impatient."

Another huff, "Don't make me ride you," Cas pushed at Dean's shoulder, trying to shove him over, "I'll do it." Dean chuckled, pressed himself further down onto Cas, using his greater weight to keep him from being moved into a position in which Cas would be able to take control.

Cas whined in the back of his throat when Dean pulled out most of the way, which cut off into a deliriously happy sound when Dean snapped his hips forward with enough force the scoot Cas up the mattress a few inches.

Dean kept up his steady pace, thrusting hard enough that Cas had to brace his hands on the headboard to keep his head from banging into it. His thighs were beginning to burn from the position he was in, but he was nailing Cas' prostate like it was an Olympic sport and he was going for gold. Cas in turn was an incoherent, babbling mess, back arching and thighs gripping Dean's sides, his eyes squeezed shut as he moaned and breathed out Dean's name.

Dean loved it when Cas was like this.

When they were done, Cas sprawled across the bed, starfish style while Dean cleaned them both up and collapsed next to him. The air in the bedroom was too hot on Dean's sweaty skin, but he didn't feel like getting up again to open a window or turn on the fan to ward off the warm spring air.

Finally Dean managed to grunt out, "Satisfied?"

"Yes, thank you."

"You make it sound like I just changed a light bulb, not fucked you into the mattress." Cas rolled over until he was sprawled on his stomach and his arm and leg draped over Dean. It was too hot to be so close together, but Dean didn't really care in that moment. Too sated to really care.

"Well, you did make me see the light." Cas muttered into his pillow, Dean snorted, slapped him on the ass for being cheesy and managed to drift off into sleep.

* * *

Castiel eyed Anna and Jimmy before he sighed and downed his shot of tequila. The three Novak siblings were out celebrating Gabriel's solid two months of dating Sarah, Gabriel's longest most meaningful relationship to date.

"Long as you're paying Jimmy." Castiel muttered, downing the next shot placed down in front of him. Castiel had a high tolerance for alcohol, but they'd been drinking for a solid hour now and he felt a little unbalanced. Anna and Jimmy weren't quite as drunk as he was but they weren't sober either.

"Don't worry Cassie; we'll get you home to Dean in one piece." Anna giggled, as Castiel tilted his head to the right, trying to make the room stop its spinning.

"You better, he may kill you otherwise." Castiel grunted and they all toasted to Gabriel's continued good fortune in his relationship.

Two hours after that the bartender had kicked them out and Castiel found himself slumped on the floor in front his apartment door, giggling hysterically as Anna and Jimmy tried to untangle themselves.

"Cas you asshole." Jimmy grumbled. Castiel cackled and fell over, pleased with himself since he'd managed to trip up his more sober siblings when they'd tried to open up his apartment door to get him inside since he no longer possessed the ability to do so for himself.

The apartment door opened and there stood Dean, he looked down at the three of them and Castiel threw his head back to look at Dean upside down, "Dean!"

Dean smiled down at him, "Wow Cas, you are _wasted_."

Castiel rolled over onto his stomach while Jimmy and Anna managed to get themselves upright, "Am not. I'm perfc…pef…pre…yeah, I'm wasted."

Dean chuckled and waved Anna and Jimmy off when they reached to get Castiel up to his feet, "I got him guys, thanks." Dean hauled Castiel upright, Castiel grunting as he collided with Dean's solid chest, his legs splayed out behind him. He felt like a baby giraffe trying to take its first steps.

"Careful Dean, he had tequila, makes him handsy." Jimmy said from Castiel's left. Castiel turned his head on Dean's shoulder and glared at Jimmy, "Does _not_."

Dean cleared his throat, "I beg to differ Cas." Castiel frowned up at him and realized that somehow, without his knowledge or permission his right hand had somehow worked itself into Dean's pants.

"Oh…wouldja lookit that." Dean chuckled and picked Castiel up all the way, Castiel cackled again, "I'm not the _bride_ here Dean. S'my apartment!"

"I don't think you're coordinated enough to get your legs working Cas. Say goodnight to Anna and Jimmy." Castiel threw his head back, letting it dangle over Dean's arm and giggled at how absurd his siblings looked upside down. They each kissed his cheek goodnight before turning and heading out to the waiting cab.

"Enjoy that hangover Cassie." Jimmy shouted before he disappeared outside. Dean chuckled again and turned to carry Castiel into the apartment they'd been sharing for two months now. Dean kicked the door shut and headed down the hallway to the bedroom.

"You are one _happy_ drunk Cas." Castiel giggled again at Dean's chuckle then landed on the bed with an _oof_, watching as Dean pulled off his shoes and pants.

"Dean?"

"Yeah Cas."

"Why do they call it a blowjob?" Dean paused in unbuttoning Castiel's shirt and let his head fall forward, shoulders shaking with his laughter.

"It's not like my dick is a fuckin'…balloon you gotta inflate or something. They should call it a suckjob."

"Blowjob just sounds better I guess." Dean peeled off Castiel's shirts and went to get some water and Advil.

When Dean returned to the bedroom, "Dean?"

"Yeah Cas."

"You've got a mouth built like a Hoover," Dean snorted and undressed himself, "Will you give me a suckjob Dean?"

Dean chuckled, pressed a soft kiss to Castiel's lips, "If you can stay awake for thirty more seconds I will."

Castiel snorted, "S'easy."

He passed out in ten.

* * *

Dean eyed Cas suspiciously, "How can you not like chocolate pudding?"

Cas poked at the pudding in his bowl, "I don't know, I believe it's because Gabriel spoils me with his chocolate. The boxed kind just tastes like…"

"Like what?" Dean smiled over the edge of his bowl while Cas poked his spoon in the pudding again.

"Tastes like chemicals and cancer."

Dean snorted milk out of his nose.

* * *

At the mark of their eighth month dating and third month living together, Castiel was the happiest he'd ever been.

* * *

Dean sat in the back of the classroom, watching as Cas showed his students how to work a long division problem, claiming it was what they would experience in their fourth grade math.

He'd come for career day, Sam having been unable to make it, Riley didn't mind, claiming that Dean's profession was much cooler than Sam's was. It was the last day of school before summer break would begin and Dean had decided to just hang around and watch Cas pass the time before the bell rang.

He hadn't seen Cas for a few days, Dean had worked an extra shift to cover for someone while Cas had been busy with parent teacher conferences.

Dean didn't mind, he was learning that he loved seeing Cas work. He could see that Cas truly adored his job, could see how much he loved teaching his students, could see how much the kids loved Cas in turn. Listening intently and watching with wide eyes despite it was their last day and they should be bouncing eagerly in their seats to be let loose.

Dean grinned as Cas shot him a wide smile and a wink before answering a question.

Yeah, Dean didn't mind in the slightest.

* * *

Castiel was thoroughly enjoying himself, Dean had come home after his shift, snuck up on Castiel while he'd been making dinner and bent him over the kitchen counter and fucked him hello. Now they were in the shower together, Dean's hands wet and slick with soap as they roamed everywhere, lightly massaging Castiel's shoulders, stroking his sides, and rubbing his hair and stomach.

So yes, Castiel was enjoying himself, even if he weren't he'd never find it in himself to complain, was much too fucked out to care.

"You're like a cat Cas I swear." Dean chuckled, resting his chin on Castiel's shoulder, hands resting on the smooth jut of Castiel's hips.

Castiel hummed, smiled and turned in Dean's grip, all for gearing up for round two. Castiel paused, something feeling a little off, he frowned and pulled away from Dean who looked at Cas with his own frown.

"What Cas?" Castiel ignored Dean and quickly rinsed the soap off his body and stepped out of the shower, "I need to call Jimmy."

He headed into the bedroom to grab his phone, heard Dean shut the water off in the shower and heard him padding down the hallway after Castiel.

"Jimmy? Why?" Castiel shook his head, unable to explain the sudden feeling that something was _wrong,_ a sudden restlessness, he hated feeling like this, hated this unsettling feeling that meant something was happening. He'd only felt it a handful of times in his life, once when Jimmy and Amelia had had their first big fight, resulting in Amelia moving out for a few days and again when Jimmy had been worried he'd make a horrible father.

Castiel called Jimmy's cell phone first and when he didn't answer called the office phone at Gabriel's; when that wasn't answered, he called Amelia. She said she'd just left Gabriel's store a few minutes ago, Jimmy said he'd be there late and was fine. Castiel knew better though, something was not fine, something was _wrong_.

"Cas?"

"I'm sorry Dean, but I need to go see Jimmy, something's…I don't know. Something just feels wrong." Dean simply nodded, pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and said, "No, Cas I get it. Go and make sure everything's fine. Mind if I-"

"No, Dean, of course I don't mind. Sleep, I'll be back soon." Dean nodded, came around the bed to press a kiss to Castiel's forehead and laid down, watching through half-closed eyes as Castiel made his way around the room getting dressed.

"Call me Cas, when you know something." Dean said as Castiel was pulling the bedroom door shut behind him.

"I will."

Ten minutes later Castiel was letting himself in through the back of the store and heading for Jimmy's office, he could hear Jimmy typing away on his computer and Castiel frowned, why hadn't his brother answered his calls?

Jimmy jumped as Castiel slammed into the office, shutting the door behind him and snapping, "What's wrong?"

"Cas! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Something's wrong. Don't you lie to me; I can feel it, like when you and Amelia had your fight. Something's wrong and you weren't answering your phone and I-"

"Whoa! Calm down Cassie." Jimmy held up his hands and came around from his desk; he rested his hands on Castiel's shoulders and said, "You shouldn't be here."

"Why not? I'm here all the time."

"It's not a good time Cas; you should really just…leave okay? Trust me all right? You need to leave."

"What? Jimmy, I-" Castiel quieted when he heard Gabriel's voice and footsteps heading for the door to Jimmy's office, he was talking louder than usual which was odd, nearly as odd as Jimmy's behavior.

"Better yet, hide."

"What?" Jimmy tugged Castiel around to the other side of his desk, manhandling him underneath it and shoving him into the space where his feet would go. Castiel glared and made to stand up again, but his path was blocked as Jimmy sat in his chair and rolled it in as close as possible.

"Jimmy, what the fuck-"

"Cas, just _trust me_ okay? Stay down there and _shut up_." Castiel glared at Jimmy's knee but did as Jimmy said, he did trust Jimmy and he'd get his damn answers soon enough. If not someone was going to his shirt stapled to his desk.

The door to the office opened, Castiel heard Gabriel and one other person step inside, he hadn't heard anyone else in the front of the shop when he'd entered through the back.

Castiel froze when he heard, "James."

Jimmy stiffened as well, his feet finding Castiel's hip and thigh while Castiel gripped Jimmy's knee. Only one person called Jimmy 'James' and the last time he'd seen him…

"Michael."

"It's nice to see you brother."

"Wish I could say the same." Jimmy reached under the desk, gripping Castiel's hand in his own, a silent reassurance to not let anything happen. Castiel heard Gabriel clear his throat and ask, "What are you doing here Michael? Last time we saw you, you swore you'd never see us again."

"A lot of things were said back then Gabriel, many of which I regret."

"_Regret_ right." Gabriel snorted and Castiel heard him shuffle towards the desk.

"There are some things I need to tell you. Need to tell everyone. Where is Castiel?"

"Not here." Jimmy growled, his grip on Castiel's hand tightening so much that Castiel could feel the bones in his hand grinding together, he didn't mind or pull away though. He didn't want to see Michael, not after what had happened the last time he'd seen him. Castiel was fairly certain Michael wouldn't do anything to him, but then again Michael hadn't _done_ anything to help him either.

"You're not going anywhere near Cas, ever." Gabriel snapped, Castiel closed his eyes and smiled briefly, Gabriel was more the elder brother of the family than Michael ever would be.

"You can't hide him forever Gabriel, I know he's here somewhere, James and Castiel were never far from each other."

"You can tell us whatever you have to say and leave, we'll pass on the message." Castiel leaned against Jimmy's legs a little, Jimmy's other hand came and rested on the back of Castiel's neck, squeezing lightly in reassurance. He couldn't have asked for better brothers.

"I didn't come to fight you Gabriel. Or you James. Please, just consider a meeting with all of us; this is something the family needs to know as one."

"Just get out Michael, leave." Castiel heard Michael sigh and then his quiet footsteps, and the sound of the bell dinging lightly as Michael exited the shop.

Castiel shoved Jimmy's chair back and clambered out from underneath the desk, Gabriel jumped at his sudden appearance, "Jesus Cas, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Wonder twin connection activated." Jimmy muttered, slowly standing up. Castiel turned and glared at Gabriel, "What the fuck is Michael doing here?"

"I don't know Cassie." Castiel sighed, ran his hands over his face and closed his eyes. If Michael was here then certainly their father couldn't be far behind, Michael was always following their father around like some lost puppy.

"Why don't you go home Cas? Go back to Dean, me and Jimmy will find out what's going on okay?" Gabriel stepped forward, placing a calm hand on Castiel's shoulder. Castiel sighed again and nodded; he gave both his brothers a brief hug and bolted for his car and home.


	8. Chapter 8

So yeah...I know. Fail on the updating time again. I got caught up in my big bang and freaking out about the season finale, which also kind of murdered my muse (not Susangel lol) along with everything else. This probably would have been posted about two weeks ago, but I freaked out and clung to it and rewrote some of it because it's the final chapter.

I know it's sudden, but it kind of hit me out of nowhere as well.

There will be an epilogue of course. But this is it. The end.

This chapter was meant to be a bit angstier than it really turned out. Some of this also feels rushed and kind of forced to me since it didn't want to be written, thanks to the angst of the last three episodes of Supernatural and the angst that's going on in my big bang fic. My brain rebelled, it kicked and screamed and just wouldn't do it so yeah...if some of this chapter is absolute shit (which I think most of it is) that's why. Blame the show.

It's probably the most horrible ending as well, but I honestly couldn't think of anything else that I don't already have in the epilogue (which is half written so _hopefully_ there won't be a month wait for it lol).

So, yeah, if it feels rushed...it's cause it is. But I promise the epilogue will be better. And even fluffier.

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel wasn't sure how he and Dean had ended up in this position, he'd come home from checking on Jimmy and had sat on the couch for the majority of the night, worrying, wondering. Would Michael and his father show up? Would they try to "cure" him again? It had been _years_ since he'd seen the rest of his family, but they were persistent, driven.

Then Gabriel had called, with news from Michael.

He was here because their father had died four months earlier; it had taken this time for Michael to track them down to be able to tell them.

Castiel couldn't be anything other than shocked. His father may not have been around when he'd been a child, and he may have beaten Castiel for two years. Before then though, he'd been a good father, had loved his children as well as he could have from a distance.

Dean had woken up some time in the middle of the night because of Castiel's pacing. He'd wandered into the dark living room, asking what was wrong, trying to get Castiel to speak about whatever was bothering him but Castiel wasn't ready for it. Was busy feeling the grief over his father, the worry as to _why_ Michael was here when he could have easily called to tell them. Dean had snapped at him over it, and Castiel had snapped back.

Now there was yelling and arm waving and Castiel had no idea how it had come to this.

It was their first true fight, they'd _bickered_ before, Castiel frustrated with Dean's inability to put his dirty laundry in the hamper, Dean frustrated when Castiel spent some of Dean's days off with his brothers instead. They'd never been reduced to actual yelling through, they'd snapped and bitched but had made up about whatever it was later.

Make up sex, according to Dean, was worth it.

Right now though, Castiel wasn't so sure. He couldn't even remember _what_ they were yelling about.

"You know what? Fine. You do whatever the fuck you gotta do Cas, I'm out." Dean snapped, turning away from Castiel and grabbing his keys off the table by the door before disappearing. Castiel blinked, stunned before it all came back to him.

Dean had just _left_, a familiar feeling crashed into him, the fear of someone he cared deeply for walking out and never coming back. He'd felt it with Gabriel once before and he was going to be damned if he let Dean do the same, especially since it was something Dean would do.

Dean would break himself off from Castiel to spare himself the hurt first, to not be the weak one. Castiel knew how Dean thought, Dean didn't think himself good enough, didn't think himself worthy of any of this, of Castiel's love.

Castiel shook himself out of his stupor and raced for the door, he wasn't going to let Dean take the cowardly way out of this. One little fight wasn't going to be their end simply because Dean was _scared_ and Castiel was confused. Castiel was going to cling like a leech and not let go.

He was at the door of the apartment building when he heard the Impala's engine roar to life; he threw himself out the door shouting, "Dean!"

He was too late though, the Impala was tearing down the street, music blaring out of the open windows. Castiel cursed, fumbled around in his pockets for his phone and dialed Dean's number, only to have it go to voicemail.

"_Shit_."

"Hello Castiel." Castiel froze in place; his heart jumped and stuttered in his chest. Michael's footsteps moved up behind him, and Castiel schooled his face, subtly changed his posture and turned to look at Michael.

"No, wrong twin Mike." Michael stared at Castiel, his eyes hard and brow creased. Castiel had hated that look as a child; always felt that Michael was judging him for something. Michael's hand came up and settled on Castiel's shoulder, gripping tight as he said, "No, I believe I've got the right twin."

Despite his best efforts not to Castiel looked around, trying to see if there was anyone around him, anyone that could help him at all. There was no one though, it was late and people were at home like he should have been.

Castiel glared up at him, "Michael, let me go. I'm not Cas."

Michael shook his head and sighed as if disappointed, "I know you're not James. I'd know your defiance anywhere Castiel." Castiel jerked against Michael's hold, trying to pull away, put some distance between them.

"Let me _go_."

"I can't Castiel. You know what our father wanted; you know I have to carry out his wishes."

"No, you don't."

"Castiel-"

"Let. Me. _Go!" _Castiel jerked back, breaking Michael's grip on his shoulder. Castiel stepped back until he was at the curb, "There is nothing to _fix_ Michael!"

"Castiel you know-"

"No! I thought for years that there was something wrong with me, that I was damaged or broken somehow. That I'd come out wrong, but I know better now. There's nothing for you to fix, there's nothing wrong with me!" Michael took a step forward and Castiel took two back, off the curb and into the street, keeping his distance.

"You might think you need to finish whatever father started but you don't need to. There's nothing to finish, we've been fine without you for _years_. We don't need you, I don't need you. So just go back to wherever you came from and leave us alone!"

Michael took another step forward while Castiel backed up again, Michael was giving him a pleading look, like he was prepared to get down on his knees and beg if he had to.

"Cassie, please. We're _brothers_."

Castiel snorted, "You don't get to call me that. And we're not brothers, not anymore, you gave up that right when you stood by and did _nothing_."

Castiel took another step back, away from Michael's reaching hand.

There was a bright light, Michael shouting his name, a horn and tires squealing and Castiel knew no more.

* * *

Dean's grip on the steering wheel was tight enough that the leather creaked under his hands. He had no music coming from the speakers, he had been too pissed to put a tape in or find a radio station when the current one had faded into static. For their first fight, it was a pretty epic one, even if Dean couldn't really remember what had been said.

He just knew he was annoyed that Cas thought so little of himself, annoyed that Cas constantly kept part of himself closed off. He was too much like Dean, fought against his emotions and didn't want to talk about them when he should. Cas insisted, much like Dean, to just ignore and move on, pretend it never happened.

Dean had fought him on it tonight though, he could see that something was seriously bothering Cas, knew it wasn't just some little thing that could be easily forgotten. He wanted to know, he wanted to help but he didn't know how if Cas wouldn't let him. Now he kind of understood how Sam felt all the time when he was attempting to help Dean.

Dean glanced at his cellphone on the seat beside him as it buzzed, _Cas_, flashing across the screen. He hit the ignore button. It buzzed again a few seconds later when a new voicemail before ringing again, this time _Jimmy_ flashing at him. Dean rolled his eyes; of course, Cas would bring his twin into their relationship issues.

The phone buzzed with another voicemail, then with a text from Sam. Followed by another text from Jimmy.

After four calls from Jimmy, three from Gabriel, eight from Sam, two from an unknown number and numerous texts, Dean snatched his phone off the seat and shut the stupid thing off. He just needed to be left alone right now, try to figure out what the hell was going to happen with him and Cas. He knew it was just one fight, but it hadn't been a small one like their other, previous ones. Were they over? Was this the end of Dean's longest and most important relationship?

Was he really willing to give up on it all after all the effort? Was he willing to give up Cas?

"Not likely." Dean muttered, snorting as he turned the Impala around and headed back to town. He'd hang out at Sam's until morning and head back to Cas and work this out. As much as he just wanted to run from this, save himself from the future hurt, he couldn't. Cas meant more to him than that. He could get over his fear for this.

The first thing Dean heard when he let himself into Sam's living room was, "Where the _fuck_ have you been?"

"Was out on a drive."

"All of us have been trying to get in touch with you all night Dean!"

"Yeah, listen Sam, Cas and I had a fight. I'm just gonna crash here okay?"

"No, Dean…listen-"

"What do you mean no?"

"Dean-"

"It's just for one night Sam, you know if you and-"

"_Dean_!"

"What?"

"Would you shut up for five seconds and let me tell you what's going on?" Dean crossed his arms and stared over at Sam who was glaring at him. Jess was standing just behind Sam in the doorway to the kitchen, watching with wide eyes.

"Well go on then."

"Cas was in an accident." Dean's arms dropped down to his sides, it felt like his heart had just stopped beating and the ground had fallen out from underneath his feet.

"He was hit by a car in front of his apartment." Dean's eyes closed and he took a deep breath. He remembered looking in the rearview mirror before turning the corner, Cas had been standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking like his world was ending. Dean had almost turned around and gone back, but he hadn't. He should have, maybe if he'd been there Cas wouldn't have stepped out into the street for whatever reason. Maybe he'd been going to his car…

"Dean, knock it off. This is one of those things that isn't your fault." Dean sighed, rubbed a hand over his face and asked, "Is he okay?"

"Jimmy said he'll be alright. Broke a leg and some scrapes and bruises, it's not as bad as it could have been."

Dean let out the breath he'd been holding; it wasn't incredibly serious at least. Now, he needed to be there. He needed to apologize and make it up. Funny how an accident could change the perspective on things.

"Want me to drive you there Dean?"

"Nah, Sam. Stay home, I'll call and let you know what's going on." Sam nodded and Dean spun around and walked out the front door. He had no idea how he was going to make this up to Cas, but he would, no matter what it took.

"What do you mean I can't see him?" Dean demanded thirty minutes later, glaring at the nurse standing in front of him. She returned his glare and snapped, "Only family members."

"He's my _boyfriend_."

She simply crossed her arms and glared at him again, unimpressed.

"Dean?" Dean spun around and rushed down the hallway towards Jimmy. Now that Dean was here in the hospital his earlier calm had gone right out the window. He _needed_ to see Cas, make sure he was okay, see for himself.

"Jimmy! You've gotta let me in to see him. How is he anyway?"

"He's alright Dean. I would let you in but uh…Gabriel is kinda pissed at you."

"Why?"

"Well, you wouldn't answer your phone and Cas told us you two had a fight?" Jimmy's eyebrow went up, a small hint of _I will destroy you if you've hurt him_ in his voice.

"Um…yeah, I don't even know anymore. It was stupid."

Jimmy stared at Dean for a moment, before he said, "You can't push Cas into telling you things."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that one out." Dean had learned that one early on in their relationship, Cas would only talk about something when he was good and ready to. When he'd figured it all out in his head and pieced everything together. To Dean, it was weird, but he'd gotten used to it. It was probably something he should have remembered earlier, instead of pushing and pushing Cas into talking about something he wasn't prepared to discuss. So Cas had pushed back and they were in this mess now.

"I talked to Cas when he was awake and coherent enough, he'll want to see you but Gabriel is another story. He's in his overprotective big brother mode. He threatened to stab the doctor with a needle if he didn't pump Cas so full of painkillers that Cas was out of it when they went in to set his leg."

Dean snorted and shook his head; he and Gabriel had a lot in common when it came to their younger siblings.

"Just…try to avoid him until he's calmed down and Cas has managed to talk to him."

"I can do that."

"Winchester!"

"Or not." Jimmy patted his arm, "Sorry."

Gabriel stormed down the hallway like a miniature hurricane until he was in front of Dean, finger in Dean's face while he snapped, "Tell me why I shouldn't kick your ass so hard you'll wish Godzilla had raped you instead!"

Jimmy snorted from where he stood behind Gabriel and Dean had to force his chuckle down and ask, "What?" instead.

Gabriel punched him on the shoulder, hard.

"You didn't answer your phone you asshat! What the fuck is your problem?"

"I didn't know Gabe."

"Yeah, because you wouldn't _answer your phone_!"

"Gabriel, Dean didn't do this on purpose." Jimmy added, putting his hand on Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel shrugged Jimmy's hand off, took a step back and snapped, "C'mon Winchester! My foot, your face. Let's do this!"

Jimmy wrapped his arms around Gabriel from behind and pulled him away from Dean and down the hallway, "I'll talk to him Dean, don't worry."

"I'll cut your balls off with a rusty spoon!" Gabriel shrieked before the two brothers disappeared around the corner. Dean didn't know whether to laugh or cry, Gabriel was oddly terrifying and hilarious at the same time. Several nurses turned to look at Dean who could only shrug and go to wait in the waiting room for any kind of news.

An hour later Jimmy plopped down next to Dean with a sigh and said, "He's calmed down now. So, whenever you're ready you can go in and see Cas. He's conked out though, won't be waking up until the morning supposedly." Dean nodded and followed Jimmy down the hallway and into a room near the end. Gabriel scowled up at him from where he was seated next to Cas' bed, "If you do or say anything I don't like, I won't be held accountable for what I will do to you. And trust me, it's not going to be putting makeup on you or putting ribbons in your hair."

"I'm not here to fight Gabriel." Gabriel simply glared and Dean turned his attention to Cas. He looked peaceful even with the scrapes along his cheek and jaw, there was a bruise peeking out from under the collar of the hospital gown he was wearing. His left leg was encased in a cast that ended mid-thigh and other scrapes and bruises on his arms and hands.

Dean sat down on the other side of Cas, gently taking his hand and muttering, "Idiot," under his breath. They all sat in silence until Gabriel's phone beeped, after that, both Jimmy and Gabriel left the room, leaving Dean alone with Cas.

It was another hour passing until Dean felt Cas' fingers tighten slightly around his own. He blinked and looked up at Cas; a small sliver of blue peeked at him from Cas' slowly opening eyes.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Cas." Cas' eyes slid shut again and Dean figured he had passed out again, Jimmy had said he wouldn't be waking up until the morning anyway since he'd been pumped full of the good stuff.

"Happened?" Cas asked after a few minutes of blinking stupidly over at Dean.

"You got hit by a car you idiot." Cas huffed, his eyes slid shut again and Dean tightened his hold on Cas' hand, "What the hell were you doing in the street huh? Didn't your mom ever teach you to look both ways?"

Cas grunted something before muttering, "Michael."

"_Michael_? Your brother Michael, Michael?"

"Mmm."

"What the hell was he doing there?" Cas simply yawned and conked out again. Dean sighed and rubbed at his forehead, he didn't even want to think about why Michael would be hanging around again. From what Cas _had_ told him about his past, it couldn't be for any good reasons.

Dean stayed there with Cas for the rest of the night, Jimmy came every few hours to check up on the two of them but Gabriel remained suspiciously absent. When the sun was beginning to slowly creep up into the sky Dean was knocked from his light doze by the door to the room opening.

Someone Dean didn't know slowly entered the room; Dean watched as the stranger quietly closed the door behind him and crept up to the bedside.

Dean stared at him and the stranger stared down at Cas.

"Can I help you?" Dean finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I just wanted to check on him." Dean took in the same jawline, the same blue eyes and dark, messy hair. He leaned back in his chair and ground out, "You're Michael."

"Yes, you must be Dean." Michael held a hand out over Cas' sleeping form; Dean remained leaning back in his chair and glared up at Michael. Michael hesitated for a moment before sighing and dropping his hand.

"Gabriel has said a lot of good things about you." Dean tried not to let his surprise show; he'd figured Gabriel as someone who would badmouth Dean as often as possible.

"Haven't heard anything about you." Dean said instead of leaping up and punching Michael in the face. This was the man who had sat by and let his father beat his youngest brother; the man shouldn't even be allowed to see Cas.

"I suppose you wouldn't have." Michael muttered, leaning forward and brushing a stray piece of hair off Cas' forehead.

Dean leapt out of his chair then, slapped Michael's hand away and snapped, "Don't you touch him."

"Just as protective of him as James and Gabriel then." Dean glared while Michael stared at him.

"Why are you even here? You obviously don't care for him; you know he was perfectly happy without you in his life."

Michael sighed, straightened his coat, "I do care for him Dean. Castiel is my little brother; I would do anything for him."

"Except keep your father from _beating the shit out of him_."

"You don't understand. We were trying to save-" Dean punched him in the face.

Michael stumbled back with a shocked look on his face; Gabriel clapped from the doorway, startling Dean out of his contemplation of leaping over Cas' bed and tackling Michael and just beating the shit out of him.

"Couldn't have said it better myself Dean. Like I said Michael, it's probably best for you to just go home." Michael straightened, glared over at Dean and pushed past Gabriel out of the room. Gabriel watched him go then looked over at Dean, "Thanks for saving me from having to do that Dean."

"Dick deserved it." Gabriel nodded, stared at Dean for a moment then asked, "I'm dragging Jimmy down to the cafeteria? Want me to bring you anything?"

Dean figured this was Gabriel's way of welcoming him completely into the family, either that or thanking him for punching his elder brother in the face. Dean shrugged, glanced down at Cas who was still sleeping soundly, "Coffee would be nice."

"Coffee. Got it. Text me if he wakes up before we get back okay?" Dean nodded and Gabriel let himself out of the room. Dean sat back down in the chair beside Cas' bed with a sigh; he wished Cas would wake up already so they could either talk shit out or so he could apologize. He'd prefer to just apologize since both he and Cas didn't really like to talk about anything which probably wasn't healthy but it was just how they worked shit out.

Dean only had to wait five more minutes before Cas was blinking his eyes open and stretching with a grimace. Dean allowed him to finish waking up before he bombarded him with questions, Cas groaned when he stretched again and asked, "Where am I?"

"Hospital."

Cas' gaze snapped over to Dean, like he hadn't been aware that Dean had been there in the first place. Dean smiled gently, reached over for Cas' hand and paused when Cas moved it away. Dean cleared his throat, rubbed at his neck and asked, "You remember what happened?"

"Was hit by a car." Cas muttered, lifting the thin blanket spread over him to peek at his leg.

"Yeah. What the hell were you doing in the street Cas?"

Cas looked over at him with a frown, shifted uncomfortably, "Michael was there. I was just trying to keep away from him, wasn't paying attention."

"Idiot." Dean muttered, resting his hands in his lap as Cas fidgeted with the edge of his blanket.

"Why are you here Dean?" Cas finally asked, breaking their awkward silence.

"You think a fight is going to keep me from coming to see you after you get hit by a fucking car Cas?"

"No, I just…" Cas sighed and looked away from Dean, eyes focusing on something across the room.

"Thought I'd left?"

"Yes."

"I'm not going to leave you Cas. I was being an idiot."

Cas snorted, nodded and mumbled, "We both were." Dean held out his hand again and smiled when Cas took it this time.

"You just frustrate the shit out of me sometimes Cas, I just wanted you to talk to me was all. I saw you were freaking out about something and I wanted to help."

"I know, I'm sorry." Dean shook his head and squeezed Cas' hand. He was rewarded with a small smile and they fell into a comfortable silence this time. Dean jumped a few minutes later and cursed, Cas eyed him and asked, "What?"

"Forgot to text your brother that you were awake." Cas rolled his eyes and Dean sent the text to Gabriel before asking, "So are you going to tell me what was going on last night? Besides Michael. He's a douche by the way."

"You saw Michael?" Cas looked ready to panic, but Dean grinned up at him and announced, "Sure did. I punched him in the face."

Cas snorted, smiled down at his lap then whispered, "He was here because father died a few months ago. He felt it was something that needed to be said in person."

"Shit Cas, I'm sorry." Cas simply shrugged; shot Dean a smile small, "I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Part of me is sad about it but the other is…grateful. Does that make me a bad person Dean?"

"No Cas, it doesn't. Just makes you human." Cas nodded and they were interrupted by Gabriel hopping into the room. Naturally, the asshole had forgotten Dean's coffee.

The next few hours passed with Gabriel, Jimmy and Dean talking with Cas. Dean left after a bit to give them some time to themselves to discuss family matters. He called Sam to let him know what was going on and to let him know Cas was fine and would be going home later that day. Sam promised he, Jess and Riley would be coming to visit before then, at Riley's insistence of course.

When Dean reentered the room, it was to find Gabriel doodling on Cas' cast and Jimmy fretting over Cas like a worried mother hen.

"Dean, please tell Jimmy that I'm _fine_." Dean simply grinned at him and watched as Jimmy fussed over the few scrapes along Cas' cheek, "Are you _sure_ you don't need some more pain medication? I'm sure we can talk to the doctor into giving you some more."

"Jimmy I will _bite_ you. I'm fine. It's a broken leg not major surgery."

"Yeah, but-"

"_Jimmy_!"

"Fine!"

Ten minutes after _that_ there was a chorus of, "Mr. Novak!" from the doorway. The four of them turned to see Sam, Jess, Riley and about six other kids standing around them. A few were holding balloons; a couple others were holding cards with 'Get Well Soon' scrawled across the fronts.

Cas blinked stupidly for a moment, opening and closing his mouth uncertainly before managing to ask, "What are you guys doing here?"

Jess ushered them all forward while Sam said, "Found them in the waiting room with their parents. Apparently word spread around town that everyone's favorite third grade teacher was laid up with a broken leg."

Cas blushed, looking shocked that he was considered anyone's favorite anything, but he sat up straighter as the kids gathered around his bed, shoving Gabriel, Jimmy and Dean out of the way. Riley and another boy hopped up onto the bed while Riley asked, "Do we get to sign your cast?"

"Of course."

"I haven't had one yet but my mom says its inev…invetable." The other boy said, snatching the black marker from Gabriel's hands before anything else could be said.

Cas chuckled quietly and said, "I think you mean inevitable Nathan."

"Yeah, that."

"I made you a card Mr. Novak! My mama says it's proper!" Cas smiled at the girl that had bounced up to the bed and accepted the card with a, "Thank you, Emily."

Dean stood back and let the kids crowd around Cas, each of them chattering excitedly, letting Cas in on what they had done over the summer so far. Cas listened to each one of them as he always did, accepting cards and letting everyone sign his cast. Dean couldn't help but chuckle at the boasting Riley was doing, letting everyone know Cas was going to be his new uncle and he'd get to see him all the time while the others wouldn't.

Safe to say it caused chaos and everyone asking if Cas would be their uncle too.

* * *

Castiel had been home for two weeks when Gabriel finally came to visit. Jimmy had been a constant presence in Castiel's apartment, finally only leaving when Castiel and Amelia threatened to castrate him. Anna had visited for a week as well before she'd needed to return to work, Castiel didn't mind. It was only a broken leg, he'd had them before and he had Dean to fuss over him whenever Dean was home from work.

Gabriel flopped over into the bed beside where Castiel was dozing in the late afternoon sun. Dean had left an hour earlier for his shift, leaving Castiel to roam about the apartment until he'd grown bored and had collapsed onto the bed with nothing else to do.

"Hey bro." Castiel held his tongue when he heard Gabriel's quiet, subdued tone. Castiel shifted until he was lying on his side facing Gabriel who was on his stomach, arms wrapped around Castiel's pillow.

"Gabriel?"

"Went to Dad's grave today."

"Oh."

"I know you don't really-"

Castiel reached out and placed a hand on Gabriel's forearm, interrupting him, "Stop there Gabriel. It's fine. You knew him better than I did, I'm sure you actually have proper memories of the man. I hardly remember him at all outside of those few years at the end."

"Yeah. He was still our dad though, y'know?"

"I know Gabriel." They laid in silence for a while; Gabriel sighed finally, patted Castiel's hand and asked, "So, how are you doing kiddo?"

"I'm fine Gabriel."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Castiel grinned over at Gabriel and added, "I'll be glad to get rid of this cast so I'll be able to fuck Dean proper."

"I do _not_ need to hear about my baby brother's extracurricular activities!" Gabriel shouted, rolling off the bed. Castiel chuckled and rolled onto his back, grinning up at the ceiling as Gabriel shouted, "I'm leaving now! Please text that to Jimmy so he can be as disturbed as I am!"

The front door slammed shut and Castiel dozed off again with a smile on his face.

* * *

So...there you have it!

The end! Sorta...kinda, almost.

Also...

would any of you be interested in a prequel to this? There would be no Dean/Cas unfortunately, but it would focus on Gabriel, Jimmy, Cas and Anna's time after they left home. I've got a good portion written already and I've gotten a "yes!", "_hell _yes!" and "if you don't finish writing it I'll shank you in your sleep." for the prequel option.

Let me know if you guys would be interested in it or not and I'll get around to writing it more often than I have been if you are. It's been a good outlet for my angst so far lol.

Anyway! I hope ya'll enjoyed and the epilogue will be around in a few weeks hopefully!


	9. Epilogue

Well. Here it is. The epilogue. The end. It's a little shorter than the other chapters, but then again it is an epilogue. I'm seriously going to miss the snot out of this story/verse.

So. Here we go.

_Thank you_ everyone that reviewed, favorited and followed. I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did.

Although! There will be a prequel since everyone seems very, very excited to read it. So there will be that, I'll probably get around to posting it when I get more of my big bang out of the way since I _really _need to get crackin' on it. Maybe when that's out of the way I'll write a sequel or some oneshots or something set in this verse.

So, anyway. I should stop myself babbling now before I carry on for a lot longer than is necessary.

A big thanks again to everyone.

Also...you guys gave me a 100+ reviews! Cookies to the lot of you!

Enjoy!

* * *

Castiel stared up at the house with a frown; it was a single story craftsman bungalow and he was beginning to wonder what the hell he had been thinking when he'd bought it.

He'd actually _bought_ a house.

It was a decent looking house at least, cheery yellow siding with white trim and a bright red front door. He liked the red door; it reminded him of something his mother would have done. Castiel sighed, shifted the box he was holding against his hip and headed up the walkway to the porch. Dean was back at the apartment with their siblings, getting all the heavy furniture moved out and on its way to the new house.

It had only been three months since the car had hit him, he was healing fine and the doctor had removed the annoying plaster cast and placed him into a walking cast. He was just glad to be able to move around easier than before and now if Dean started hovering he could actually get up to hit him.

Castiel unlocked the front door and pushed it open, cringing at the interior of the house. As nice as the exterior was, the interior looked like something out of a horrible seventies movie set.

Along with the unbearable paint colors on the walls (peach in the living room, mustard yellow in the bathroom, wood paneling everywhere else), there was shag carpeting that was a horrendous reddish-brown with what used to be gold highlights. There was even olive green appliances to top it all off.

Castiel wanted to strangle whoever had decorated this house. He had hopes though that there were wood floors underneath the carpet; the house was old enough to have them. Castiel moved into the living room and dropped the box to the floor, the first box of many to be moved into the house. Both Gabriel and Dean had ganged up on him, claiming that since Castiel was still healing he would be doing no moving (which was okay with Castiel since he had been dreading it in the first place). So all Castiel had to do was travel to the local Lowe's to picked out new paint colors, flooring (if need be) and a completely new kitchen.

Most of which Michael would be paying for as an apology for what had happened.

Castiel nearly hadn't accepted the offer, then he'd seen the estimate for how much a new kitchen would cost. He figured it was the least Michael could do after everything Michael had done (and in some cases _not_ done).

"Feelin' okay about this?" Castiel jumped when Dean's voice came from directly behind him. He turned to glare up at Dean who was grinning at him.

"No."

"No?" Dean's smile vanished and he frowned at Castiel who was looking around the house.

"Dean, I paid three hundred thousand dollars for shag carpeting and mustardy bathrooms! What the fuck was I thinking? I'm a third grade teacher! I can't afford-"

"Whoa! Cas, chill," Dean rested his hands on Castiel's shoulders while Castiel took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "You're not alone, I'm living here too."

"That's not helping Dean. You don't make much more than me." Castiel grumbled.

"We'll be fine Cas. Plus it's all just cosmetic stuff that needs to be changed. We've got a nice big backyard with a nice deck and a garden, a nice front yard, friendly neighbors, a garage…we'll fix the place up and it'll be great."

Castiel took another deep breath while Dean added with a chuckle, "Plus you love the red front door. No idea why, but you do."

Castiel took another deep breath and let it out slowly, "Three hundred _thousand_ Dean."

"Big kitchen."

"Shag carpet."

"Red door."

"Peachy, mustard, wood paneled walls."

"Me."

"_Shag carpet_."

"_Home_."

Castiel was silent and Dean added, "Plus we can have sex in all of these rooms."

Castiel hesitated, "All of them?"

"Gotta break them in somehow."

"Okay."

"Okay? Figures it would be sex that calms you down." Castiel didn't mention that Dean had calmed him down with the thought of Dean living here with him. This was _their_ home, Castiel's name may have been the only one on the papers, but this was Dean's home as much as it was his.

Castiel opened his eyes, gave Dean his best smirk, "Maybe we should start now."

"Tempting. But all your siblings are going to be here in a few minutes and I don't feel like being caught having sex with you by them. I'd get another lecture."

"Teach them to knock at least."

"You're still set on that aren't you?" Castiel grunted, turned away from Dean to examine the house again. If he managed to block out the carpet and walls he could be calm and remind himself of the three bedrooms, the big kitchen, the fireplace in the living room. It was a good house and he'd been lucky to get it at the price he had, this neighborhood in California would generally go for double what Castiel had gotten it for. The previous owners had died though and their children had just wanted to get rid of the house as soon as possible.

This was his house now, his home. One day he would raise his own children here, watch his nieces and nephews…

"Making a plan of attack?"

Castiel nodded, "Do me a favor and rip up some of this carpet up and tell me if there's decent wood floors underneath."

"And if there's not?" Dean asked, heading to the far corner.

"Michael, I'm sure will be kind enough to pay for a new floor as well." Dean chuckled, bent to pull up the carpet, "You're gonna be milking that for all it's worth."

Castiel tilted his head to the left, admiring the view that was Dean's denim clad ass, "Michael can afford it. He shouldn't have offered if he was going to be cheap about it."

Dean chuckled, "I know you're staring."

Castiel ripped his eyes away and looked out the front window, "Nonsense."

"Well, Michael is in luck, there's some nice wood under here."

"Good condition?" Castiel limped across the empty living room to where Dean was holding up the corner of the carpet, "Yeah, bit dirty but nothing some polish can't fix up."

"Good, I'll set up you manly men to rip all this shit up then."

"Gee thanks."

"Don't feel bad, I'll be taking the girls to pick out paint colors."

Dean eyed him as he straightened, "You're being very gay."

Castiel eyed him back, "Newsflash, I am gay."

"Well stereotypical gay."

"Am not."

"Just don't start lisping and waving your hands around when you run."

Castiel glared at him and turned to head outside where he could hear Gabriel and Jimmy arguing about the furniture, "See if you get laid tonight."

"Aw, c'mon. I was kidding!" Castiel flipped him off over his shoulder and headed down the porch steps.

"Cas!" Castiel grinned to himself, ignored Dean and went to greet his brothers.

* * *

Dean learned one very important lesson over the course of the following week.

Keep Cas away from Ikea at all costs.

The man could spend _all day_ wandering around the Swedish furniture store and blow all of his money there in the process.

Their first trip there had resulted in Cas buying a whole new bedroom set for their room and Anna's room, a new couch and chair, a desk and closet organizers.

The second time was a few days later when Cas decided he wanted to check out their cabinet selection. He bought the cupboards and cabinets and thankfully decided against the kitchen appliances there in favor of the more 'professional' ones he had his eye on elsewhere. It also ended with them wandering around again like they hadn't just been there a few days before and Cas hadn't seen it all then.

Ridiculous amounts of bedding and carpets, curtains and pillows had been purchased then as well, along with other decorative accessories.

Dean was seriously worried about the balance of Cas' bank account, especially since Cas hadn't been able to work over the summer like he usually did. Thankfully though, Michael pulled through and a check was written for the amount the kitchen had cost. Dean spent the days following that check being deposited talking Cas out of going _back_ to Ikea to see if he had missed anything they might need.

The paint department at Lowe's knew Cas by his first name at the end of that first week as well. They'd all even gone out for drinks at one point. Dean didn't even know what to think about that.

The house slowly came together though, and since they had moved out of the apartment when Cas' lease had been up, they'd been living with Sam for those weeks. It was crowded but no one really minded since they only slept after having spent all day working on the house.

When they finally did spend their first night in their new house, it was on an air mattress in the middle of the living room. Which ended up on the other side of the room come morning due to some vigorous movements made by the two of them.

The ugly shag carpet had been pulled up, nails had been removed and the floor underneath had been cleaned and polished and resealed and returned to it's original dark maple wood that Dean could appreciate.

Gone was the peach paint in the living room, replaced with the grayish-blue Cas had settled on, the kitchen was a warm golden color, their bedroom was a deep, rich red while the other two bedrooms were a light green. Cas had locked himself away in the bathroom for three days to lay out a mosaic in blue and green glass tiles that covered the floor and walls that ended up looking like a professional had done it.

There wasn't an olive green appliance in sight either.

The house looked amazing, Dean had joked it looked like one of the showrooms they'd wandered through on their trips to Ikea, which actually made sense since most of the house was furnished with Ikea furniture.

Cas was happy with it all though, which made Dean happy. Plus Cas had let Dean do whatever he'd wanted with the backyard.

They spent Cas' birthday christening every single one of those rooms.

The new school year started which thankfully kept Cas busy; Dean had learned that a Cas without some kind of project to focus his energy on was a dangerous Cas.

Cas learned his new and thankfully less crazy students over the weeks. Riley hung out with him every day until Jess came to pick him up and Cas would come home to Dean.

Gabriel and Sarah moved in together and soon after Gabriel opened up a second shop a few towns over. Dean could still remember the series of hysterical phone calls Cas had received in the middle of the night during that whole month long process.

Dean spent his and Cas' one-year anniversary in a 'mood' since he had convinced himself he was going to ruin everything any day now. He'd never had a relationship last as long as this one and he was looking forward to it lasting as long as it could. Cas simply rolled his eyes at Dean, got him drunk and fucked him stupid on the deck.

Jimmy and Amelia entertained the idea of maybe trying for a second baby. They quickly changed their minds when Claire brought home her first boyfriend and received her driver's permit in the same week.

Sam and Jess _did_ start working on a second baby and were successful in an amazingly short time. Cas could still remember the series of hysterical phone calls from Sam when he'd found out.

Dean got Cas a black lab puppy named Dallas for Christmas. Cas got him a hot tub for the backyard.

They rang in the New Year with just the two of them in their home. Many orgasms were had, so neither could complain too much.

Dean celebrated his birthday at work. That was until they received a call that took them out to Dean's neighborhood. Dean had his moment of sheer panic when he spotted Cas sitting out on the curb, Dallas sitting beside him.

Dean was out of the truck and over to Cas before it had even been parked, "Cas! What happened? You okay?"

"Relax Dean, I'm fine." Dean looked him over, judged that he was indeed fine then turned his attention to the house, expecting to see flames or smoke or something catastrophic. Nothing was wrong though, the windows were lit up and he could hear music coming from the backyard.

"Then…what's…" Bobby came up behind Dean, clapped a hand to his shoulder, "Shouldn't spend your birthday working Dean."

"Um."

"Jo is already coming in to cover for you. Celebrate, have fun!" Dean blinked stupidly at Bobby who grinned, turned and left him standing there in his turnout gear, Cas grinning up at him.

"Cas…what the hell?"

Cas shrugged, grinned some more, "Bobby said he'd go along with it if you guys weren't busy. I figured you wouldn't want to spend your birthday working."

Dean was still slightly confused as to what had just happened.

"Come on. Everyone's waiting."

"Everyone?"

"Jimmy made hamburgers, Gabriel made you a cake. Sam brought the beer. Come inside, change." Cas took Dean's hand and dragged him towards the front door, Dallas bounding ahead of them. When Dean had stripped out of his gear and into more comfortable clothes, he grabbed Cas around the waist and kissed him hard, "I love you, you know."

"Love you too Dean." Dean kissed him again and smiled when Cas wrapped around him like the world's biggest, most awkward octopus.

"You didn't have to do this for me Cas."

"I know," Cas gave him a squeeze and pulled away, "But I wanted to. Now come on, there's a beer with your name on it waiting for you."

Dean grinned and allowed himself to be pulled through the house and into the backyard where everyone _was _waiting for him.

Dean really couldn't have imagined his life turning out like this. He certainly wasn't going to complain though, especially when he had some of the best birthday sex _ever_ later that night.

"_This is home, now I'm finally where I belong  
__I've been searching for a place of my own  
__Now I've found it, yeah this is home._"  
This is Home - Switchfoot

* * *

Keep an eye out for the prequel! It'll probably pop up in a few weeks.

Thank you _again_ to everyone. I hope you enjoyed!

See you at the prequel. _And _for those of you following it, I haven't forgotten about _Million Little Things_...it'll get updated soon hopefully now that this is out of the way.


	10. Announcement

Hi guys! Just letting you know the prequel to this story is up.

For those of you who don't have me on author alert or anything.

It's called **Beautifully Broken, Alive in my Heart**

Hope you guys enjoy it!


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